Thailand to become seafood hub in Asia

BANGKOK, August 17 (TNA) - Thailand has eyed to become a seafood hub in Asia in the foreseeable future, based in seaside Samut Sakhon province adjacent to the Thai capital, Bangkok. According to chief of Samut Sakhon's commercial office Supon Sritabtim, once the construction of new transport routes linking Thailand with neighbouring Myanmar, where there is abundant of seafood supply, through the Sing-korn Permanent Checkpoint in Prachuap Khiri Khan's Mueang district, is complete next year, imports of fresh seafood from Myanmar can directly reach Samut Sakhon, making the seaside Thai province become the largest hub of seafood trade in Asia. Meanwhile, a group of Myanmar business operators visited Samut Sakhon earlier this week to explore their business opportunities, particularly in the local fishery sector, ahead of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), set to be formed by 2015. Preecha Sirisaengarampee, President of Samut Sakhon's Chamber of Commerce, led local fishery operators to a meeting with the 92-member Myanmar business delegation, headed by Myanmar’s head of Myeik province's Chamber of Commerce, U hla Than, to discuss business opportunities available in Thailand in the lead-up to the AEC. The Thai and Myanmar delegations also visited Talay Thai Seafood Market, processed seafood factories and the Sinsakorn Industrial Estate, as part of their field trip. Following the trip, the chief of Samut Sakhon's commercial office told reporters that the Myanmar business operators expressed enthusiasm to become suppliers of seafood products to Thailand because their country is rich in marine resources. Currently, seafood products imported from Myanmar, shipped to Samut Sakhon through Ranong province in the Thai South, makes up for at least 45 per cent of the total market share of the central Thai province's daily seafood supply. (TNA)