Third-Country Deals With Singapore Sought

By Phusadee Arunmas, Bangkok Post, Thailand

Oct. 8–Joint-venture investments by Thai-Singaporean partnerships in third countries could represent a new form of regional economic co-operation, according to Karun Kittisataporn, the permanent secretary of the Commerce Ministry.

The idea will be discussed at the end of next month at the second Singapore-Thailand Enhanced Economic Relations meeting in Bangkok. The Thai delegation will be led by Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak.

The first meeting took place three years ago. The coming talks are intended to spur further integration of Southeast Asian economies.

The ultimate goal of Asean is to create an EU-style Asean Economic Community by 2020, but progress to date has been slow with only Thailand and Singapore taking serious initiatives.

The discussions next month will focus on joint ventures in logistics, marine transport, telecommunications, real estate and stock market investments, said Mr Karun.Business investors from the United States are expected to join the talks as Singapore is now a major business hub for the US in Southeast Asia.

Future business joint ventures involving Thai and Singapore partners will initially focus on the other eight states in the 10- member Asean bloc.

The food industry, one of Thailand’s strengths, could be one of the investment options, said Apiradee Tantraporn, the director-general of the Trade Negotiation Department. Potential third-country destinations could be Laos, Cambodia, Burma and Vietnam as they are major producers of agricultural commodities.

The Thailand-Singapore co-operation will also include tourism and air transport. The two countries could, for example, develop a joint tourism-destination plan to attract visitors outside Southeast Asia.

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