Thailand-India trade to cross $4 billion as trade with Saudi tops $3.44 billion

Mumbai: India's trade with Thailand is set to cross $4 billion this year even as the country's bilateral trade with Saudi Arabia surged from $2.63 billion in 2005 to over $3.44 billion last year, an increase of over 28 per cent.

Trade and investments between India and Thailand had shown positive trends, rising from $400 million in 1992 to $1 billion in 2000, to $2 billion in 2004 and to $3 billion last year, Indian ambassador to Thailand Latha Reddy said.

India's trade relations with Saudi Arabia are also forging ahead on both the trade and investment fronts. Over the past two years, the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) issued 190 licences to Indian companies for joint ventures or 100 per cent-owned entities in the kingdom in different sectors, such as telecommunications, IT, construction projects and electronics, the Arab News reported in its `India-Independence Day supplement.'

Thailand now accounts for $830 million of approved foreign direct investment (FDI) in India, mainly in food processing, hotel and tourism, construction and electrical equipment, telecommunications, trading and transportation sectors.

"India's FDI in Thailand has also risen. In the first quarter of 2007 it rose by 110 per cent over the same period last year," Rao said, adding that companies like Aditya Birla group and the Indo-Rama group have been there for a number of years.

Tata Steel, meanwhile, is investing 2.5 billion Baht in Thailand's largest producer Millennium Steel and would set up the first mini-blast furnace here, she said.