The Commerce Ministry and the Egyptian Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade will set up a Joint Trade Committee (JTC) to promote trade and investment, agriculture and tourism.
Commerce Minister Pichai Naripthaphan said he and the Egyptian Minister, Hassan El-Khatib, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on JTC on Thursday via a video conference. The cabinet approved the move at the beginning of this month, with the MoU marking the 70th year of bilateral trade partnership between the countries, which fell in 2024.
Mr Pichai said the JTC is a prominent tool for both countries' trade ministers to work on policies and economic relationship development. It also helps with trading and investment cooperation.
Under the JTC, both countries will cooperate on economic development across multiple sectors over the next five years. The cooperation spans many fields, including trade and investment, agriculture, industrial development, tourism and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Mr Pichai proposed the first JTC meeting within the first half of 2025 to expedite the process. "We hope to use the JTC mechanism to seek cooperation while lessening any trading obstacles," said Mr Pichai.
Egypt is a new market for many Thai operators after it decided to welcome more foreign investment and trade to the country. "The country has high potential as a prime location of maritime logistics linking the Suez Canal, Europe and Asia," said Mr Pichai.
Egypt is Thailand's fifth biggest trading partner in Africa, with US$725.12 million (24.6 billion baht) of trade value in 2023. Thai exports to Egypt are worth US$666.16 million (22.6 billion baht), with key goods including rubber, wooden products, chemical products, automobiles and components and seafood. Meanwhile, Thailand imports goods worth US$58.96 million (2 billion baht), including steel, chemical products, pharmaceutical products, clothing and electronic machines from Egypt.