Thailand enhances economic relations with South Korea

SEOUL, March 23 (TNA) - Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak is boosting Thailand's economic relations with South Korea during his ongoing visit to the East Asian nation, scheduled for March 21-24. As part of the mission, Somkid has invited South Korean firms to invest in a wide range of development projects in Thailand, including transport and industrial ones. In Seoul on March 22, Somkid, after paying a courtesy call on South Korean President Park Geun-hye, led the Thai business delegation to attend a meeting to discuss investment opportunities, in which South Korean Deputy Prime Minister and Strategy and Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho also participated. The Thai deputy premier told the meeting that South Korea could invest in Thailand's special economic zones (SEZs), railways, further development of the eastern U-Tapao Airport and Laem Chabang Deep Seaport, as well as high-technology, digital, biofuel, chemical industries and medical services. The Thai deputy premier also invited South Korea to invest in water management systems and railway projects in Thailand, saying that railway expansion could develop Thailand to become a centre in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). The Thai deputy prime minister also proposed Thai-South Korean public-private partnership investment in railway projects in Thailand, offering both tax and non-tax promotional privileges to investors. Besides, the Thai deputy premier pointed out, Thai tour guides are also learning Korean, as 1.37 million South Korean tourists visited Thailand last year, while 400,000 Thai people went to South Korea in 2015. According to the visiting deputy premier, Thailand also plans to double the value of bilateral trade with South Korea over the next five years.(TNA)