Somkid heads team seeking Japanese support

Somkid heads team seeking Japanese support

Delegation will woo investors and sign transport agreements in a bid to boost bilateral trade.

Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak and his economic ministers are scheduled to leave for Japan today in a last-ditch effort to stimulate fragile exports and restore foreign investor confidence for this year.

The delegation will include Thai business leaders.

According to his four-day itinerary, Mr Somkid and the Transport, Commerce, Industry, Science and Technology, and Tourism and Sports ministers as well as members of the Board of Investment will pay a courtesy call tomorrow on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

They will also meet with Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso to discuss business issues and ways to strengthen trade and investment between the two countries.

Somkid: A number of MoUs set to be signed

This will be followed in the afternoon by a joint meeting with leading Japanese investors to be chaired by Mr Somkid. Business-matching activities between the Thai and Japanese private sectors in the food, rubber, digital content and service business will take place at the event.

On Friday, Mr Somkid will give the keynote speech on Thailand's new economic policies at a seminar entitled "Thailand: Moving Forward to Sustainable Growth", which is expected to attract 1,000 investors.

Economic ministers will also participate in a panel discussion on support for Japanese investors during the seminar.

The meeting of the High-Level Joint Commission between Thailand and Japan will also be held on Friday at Government House.

A number of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) are also scheduled to be signed by the two nations during the trip, among them on the ambitious joint double-track railway development.

The meeting with the Japanese delegation will push ahead the construction of a 547-kilometre rail route from Ban Phu Nam Ron on the border of the western province of Kanchanaburi to Sa Kaeo's Aranyaprathet district in the East, expected to start early next year. A new railway will be built linking Kanchanaburi and the planned deep-sea port in Dawei in Myanmar.

Meanwhile, the existing one-metre gauge railway will be improved for transport from Kanchanaburi to Laem Chabang, the major seaport and industrial complex in Chon Buri, and Sa Kaeo, which borders Cambodia, in accordance with the construction plan.

Thailand and Japan will also work on a joint investment plan for the railway operation.

Transport development and improvement of tracks are key to realising the Kanchanaburi-Sa Kaeo route, the Transport Ministry said.

Mr Somkid also plans to discuss possible joint investment in two other railway projects with his Japanese counterpart -- a 715-km Bangkok-Chiang Mai high-speed train and a 718-km rail route from Tak's Mae Sot district on the Myanmar border to Mukdahan's Muang district on the Laotian border.

Japanese experts are looking at both projects.

The study of the Tak-Mukdahan line, also known as the upper East-West corridor, has proceeded to the point where experts are considering whether the tracks should be one- or 1.435-metre gauge.

As for the Bangkok-Chiang Mai line, a site survey is being carried out, and the project may be approved next June, transport permanent secretary Chatchai Thipsunawi said last week.

Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said his agency would sign three MoUs on tourism cooperation.

The first one will be signed with the Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro) on Thailand's tourism development in local areas and its promotion in neighbouring countries and the Greater Mekong Subregion.

The second MoU will be signed with the Japan Association of Travel Agents on promoting tourism between the two countries.

The third MoU, with TV Asahi Corporation, will be on cooperation to exchange content about tourism between the two countries, covering human resources and infrastructure development.

The three deals are aimed at boosting Japanese tourist arrivals to 2 million by 2020.

In the first 10 months of this year, Japanese arrivals increased by 12% to 1.14 million, generating 47.2 billion baht in revenue.

The TAT targets 1.3 million Japanese visitors for revenue of 54.9 billion baht this year and 1.4 million visitors and 61 billion in revenue next year.

The Thai Animation and Computer Graphics Association will also sign an MoU with the Fukuoka Creative Content Association for joint animation production.

Sirinart Chaimun, director-general of the Trade Negotiations Department, earlier said the government would solicit Japanese support for Thailand's participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Japan is one of 12 Pacific Rim countries that signed the pact on Oct 5.

Jetro president Masayasu Hosumi said the Japanese were keen to continue investing in Thailand but needed to see clearer policies to support investment.

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