According to reports, India’s minister of commerce and industry, Kamal Nath, met with his Thai counterpart, Krirk-Krai Jirapaet, in New Delhi and discussed ways to further intensify trade and economic relations between the two countries.

Bilateral trade between the two countries reached $2 billion in the first eight months of the financial year 2006-07, with gems and jewellery being among the primary Indian exports.

Nath called on Thai investors to explore more opportunities for joint ventures between the two countries – Thailand is India’s third-largest foreign investor from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region after Singapore and Malaysia.

Referring to the India-Thailand Free Trade Agreement, the Indian minister reiterated the need to simultaneously conclude negotiations so that the FTA could cover not only trade in goods but also trade in services and investment.

Two-way trade between India and Thailand has more than doubled from $1 billion in 2001-02 to $2.2 billion in 2005-06. In 2005-06, Indian exports to Thailand stood at $1,075.31 million, and imports from Thailand were $1,211.58 million.