Guangzhou: Thailand and China have agreed to upgrade economic cooperation between the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) and Guangdong province, focusing more on targeted industries.
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said with an upgrade, a joint high-level committee would be established to follow up on the cooperation.
Thailand’s EEC Office today signed a memorandum of understanding on economic cooperation on targeted industries, R&D and human resource development with Guangdong province.
The signing was presided over by Mr Somkid and Li Xi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee.
"I told Mr Xi the cooperation should be upgraded to a ministerial level to enhance the pact between the EEC and Guangdong, and China’s Greater Bay Area [GBA],” said Mr Somkid.
The GBA aims to promote cooperation among nine cities in Guangdong — Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing — and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, with the aim of developing a world-class city cluster via reforms, innovation and liberalisation.
The GBA has more than 70 million people, with a combined GDP of US$1.5 trillion (47 trillion baht). The area has averaged economic growth of 10.7% a year for several decades.
In a related development, Mr Somkid said he hoped his China visit and a roadshow in the country during Oct 20-25 would attract more Chinese and foreign companies to relocate their production bases to Thailand.
He said executives of Primax and its affiliate Tymphany, the world's leading audiovisual manufacturer based in Taiwan, plan to move their production bases to Thailand.
Mr Somkid said the company chose Thailand because of confidence in policy continuity, ease of doing business, and the geographic location with links to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
The company is likely to submit investment applications for the project with the Board of Investment, he said. Other companies set to relocate to Thailand include Quantum Hi-Tech (China) Biological C and Hairma (Nantong) Technology Co, said Mr Somkid.