Nonthaburi, The Minister of Commerce zoomed across the country to meet with the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore to accelerate economic stimulus, push for the opening of the organic egg market, support the Thai gaming industry, reduce the patent examination process, and join as a regional cruise tourism hub.
Mr. Phumtham Vejjayachai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, said after discussing with Mr. Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry of Singapore via video conference that the year 2025 will be the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Thai-Singapore relations. Both sides agreed to hold the 7th Thailand-Singapore Bilateral Trade Conference (STEER) to discuss ways to increase trade value and expand investment between the two countries, with Singapore agreeing to host the conference, following Thailand’s hosting in 2022.
However, this opportunity was used for discussion to push Singapore to support the registration of organic egg farms in Thailand, which are cur
rently undergoing a hygiene risk assessment by the Food Authority of Singapore, in order to provide Singaporean consumers with an alternative to fresh chicken eggs and quail eggs that Thailand already exports. Currently, Singapore is Thailand’s number 1 fresh chicken egg export market. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade of Singapore is pleased to continue to follow up with relevant Singaporean agencies for Thailand.
In addition, both sides will cooperate as the digital pillars of the region by pushing for the negotiation of the ASEAN Digital Economy Agreement (DEFA) led by Thailand to conclude next year, while Singapore has expressed its readiness to support Thailand’s participation in the Digital Economic Partnership Agreement (DEPA) and the WTO e-commerce agreement. On this occasion, Thailand announced its plan to expand the digital content market to Singapore, with the Ministry of Commerce bringing game and digital content entrepreneurs to participate in Gamescom Asia 2024 in October 2024 and
Asia TV Forum and Market Singapore 2024 (ATF 2024) in December 2024 in Singapore. In addition, both sides will cooperate in cruise tourism, recognizing the opportunity to showcase the diverse and interconnected tourism potential of the region, as well as the economic growth of local communities. For intellectual property cooperation, both sides support the reduction of patent examination and registration procedures between each other, which is in line with Thailand’s digital government policy.
However, Singapore is currently Thailand’s third largest trading partner in ASEAN, up from the previous fourth largest trading partner. In 2023, Thailand-Singapore’s total trade was worth 18,422.50 million US dollars (-0.3%), with Thailand having a trade surplus of 2,065.18 million US dollars. Thailand’s main export products include gems and jewelry, refined oil, circuit boards, computers and components, and important agricultural products exported to Singapore include processed chicken, rice, and fresh eggs. Thailand
imports chemicals, computers and components, gold, circuit boards, plants and plant products from Singapore.
Source: Thai News Agency