Sri Lanka,Thailand to double bilateral trade in coming years

BANGKOK, November 3 (TNA) - Sri Lanka and Thailand plan to increase bilateral trade by double in the coming years, from about 510 million US dollars presently. The plan was announced on Tuesday by Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak during his address at the Thailand-Sri Lanka Business Forum, organised in Bangkok by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and three major private institutions, comprising the Board of Trade of Thailand, the Federation of Thai Industries and the Thai Bankers’ Association, to mark the 60th anniversary celebration of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Thailand. Pledging that the Thai government would double trade value with Sri Lanka, Somkid, who oversees economic affairs, said he would also lead Thai investors to explore trade and investment opportunities in Sri Lanka soon, calling on Sri Lanka to use strong relations with Thailand to benefit from the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by the end of this year, as Thailand is a member country of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Major Thai exports to Sri Lanka include sugar, auto parts and processed seafood, while the Thai Kingdom's key imports from Sri Lanka include jewellery, vegetables, fruits and textiles, with Thailand enjoying a trade surplus of about 394 million US dollars with Sri Lanka last year alone. Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena is paying an official visit to Thailand, scheduled for November 1-4, as the guest of the Thai government, marking the 60th anniversary celebration of diplomatic relations between Colombo and Bangkok in 2015. The visiting Sri Lankan president also participated in Tuesday morning's “Thailand-Sri Lanka Business Forum” in the Thai capital, in which more than 100 Thai and 15 Sri Lankan business operators also took part. (TNA)