Thailand and Russia have signed an agreement to promote small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), startups and exchange of technology and innovation to improve industry and trade in both countries.
Both governments will set up a joint committee, comprising representatives from Thailand's Industry Ministry and Russia's Industry and Trade Ministry.
Pasu Loharjun, permanent secretary of the Industry Ministry, said Russia is interested in expanding its investment here, especially in the flagship Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) scheme, which matches with the Russian Far East (RFE) project.
Both projects can directly involve the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
"Russia is looking at future investment in Southeast Asia, and Thailand is its first destination thanks to the EEC scheme," said Mr Pasu.
"Both governments plan to make action plans for industrial cooperation on many issues: the industry 4.0 initiative, circular economy, SMEs, special economic zones, production standards and high technology."
JSC Sukhoi Co from Russia is interested in investing in the aerospace industry under the Thai government's S-curve policy.
The company is planning for a new facility in the EEC and expects to make Thailand its production hub in Southeast Asia to supply aircraft parts for commercial aviation and defence in the global market.
Yesterday Thailand hosted the 7th Session of the Joint Thai-Russian Commission on Bilateral Cooperation in Bangkok.
The Thai and Russian co-chairs are Mr Pasu and Alexey Gruzdev, deputy minister of economic development from Russia.
Thailand and Russia have 120 years of diplomatic relations.
Several high-level visits and meetings between both countries' leaders, ministers, several sub-commissions and joint working groups were held on a regular basis on economic cooperation, including trade, agriculture, banking, energy, tourism, the environment and security.
In 2017, trade between Thailand and Russia tallied US$3.02 billion, an increase of 55.7%.
The number of Russian tourists visiting Thailand in 2017 stood at more than 1.4 million, an increase of 26% from a year before.