India-Thailand trade set to be $20 bn in FY24

Hyderabad: The bilateral trade between India and Thailand is likely to touch another new milestone this financial year. According to Royal Thai Consulate-General, Chennai, the trade volumes will reach around $20 billion in FY2023-24, breaking the preceding all-time-high record of $17.7 billion during last fiscal.

Before Covid-19, the bilateral trade between these countries stood at $15 billion in FY19. However, the trade volumes started going downward during the pandemic period. It was only $9.7 billion during FY20. The trade volumes touched back the pre-pandemic level in FY22 and reached the highest figure so far at $17.7 billion during FY23.

“The trade volumes between both countries are increasing every year from the pandemic-times. We expect that to go much higher than the previous record to cross $19-20 billion this fiscal,” Nitirooge Phoneprasert, Consul-General of Thailand in Chennai, told Bizz Buzz in an exclusive interview.

He said, “The trade relations between India and Thailand have grown in leaps and bounds. There are also positive trade sentiments. We can see more trade and investments happening after our collaboration with various industry chambers and different organisations in South India.”

Nitirooge said, “the business opportunities have grown exponentially between India and Thailand after our association with the India-Asean-Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IASCCI) in November 2022. Earlier, we have also done a seminar on ‘Business in Thailand - a gateway to ASEAN’ with Madras Chamber of Commerce in September, 2021.”

“With such partnerships, we are anticipating more trade and commerce between India and Thailand. Having heard of many business executives during the seminars and meetings, we understood that solar energy, construction material and chemical products are some of the segments that can flourish trade between the two countries,” he revealed.

Most of the commodities that are exported from India to Thailand are gems & jewellery, precious or semi-precious stones, metals, food products, machinery parts, chemical products and minerals. The major imported items of India from Thailand include plastic materials, raw precious stones, vegetable oils, air-conditioner parts and incense products.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an international organisation of seven South Asian and Southeast Asian nations including India and Thailand, constituting a contiguous regional unity. Thailand will be hosting the sixth BIMSTEC Summit on November 30, 2023.

“India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending this summit. In that, we may see an announcement on elevating the relationship between the two countries to a new high. India is likely to become a strategic partner of Thailand having special focus areas of cooperation between both the countries,” the Consul-General informed.

“I would like to see strengthening in the area of education. We are looking ahead for collaboration in this field. We will further raise awareness of the younger generations for growth. This will also build people-to-people connections and help in better understanding of each other in the future,” he added.

In the last couple of years, the consulate has initiated many educational engagements. The student delegations from various institutions in Southern States of India have gone to Thailand for industrial visits and training. It plans to continue such expeditions with similar institutes.

The embassy also wants to connect the think-tank between Thailand and India. Recently, it has initiated with the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), which is a coaching-based think-tank dedicated to extensive research on current economic, social and political issues, to discuss academic research and collaboration with institutes in both countries.