Thailand to develop road & railway links with NE India

To improve the bilateral trade with India, Deputy Permanent Secretary of Thailand Government Norachit Sinhaseni has favored road and railway links with the North East India. Sinhaseni said that a railway link connecting Thailand-Myanmar and the North East India would definitely boost the volume of trade in three countries. “If we want to increase our present volume of trade, we must develop road and transportation linkages,” he said.

Thai Government seems enthusiastic towards good projects for the link. The senior official under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “We are ready for any fruitful project. Trans-Asian Highway project is already underway and we can undertake similar kind of railway projects with active support from the Indian Government.”

Sinhaseni is in Guwahati at present to participate in the 4th North East Business Summit. He said that Thailand is also keen to explore avenues in agro-based industry in the North East. “Agro-based products are available in the region and therefore we are in favour of initiating joint venture projects with the traders of the North East,” he informed.

Sinhaseni also revealed that Thailand is interested in investing in infrastructure and telecom sectors in the region. “This region is a high-potential area. Moreover, we have close historic ties with the North East. So we are really looking forward to establishing investment links,” he observed.

On Indo-Thai trade, he said that the bilateral trade between the countries has been picking up gradually. “Last year we had a target of $4 billion, but we surpassed the target and the existing trade is likely to go up to 38% this year. We want to increase our trade with India,” he added.