Thai Deputy FM leads business delegation on a visit to Kazakhstan

Both noted the friendly relations between the two countries and discussed collaboration opportunities for mutual benefit, especially regional and multilateral cooperation in trade, tourism, agriculture and health education.

Jakkapong and Nurtleu witnessed the signing of an MoU between the Board of Trade of Thailand and QazTrade, and also discussed the progress on various draft agreements such as the extension of the visa exemption agreement until August 31 this year.

Nurtleu said Kazakhstan is keen to strengthen the relations between the two countries, emphasising that Thailand is an important alliance in Southeast Asia.

For his part, Jakkapong praised the advances in the relations between the two countries, confirming that Kazakhstan is Thailand's major trade partner in Central Asia.

The Thai Deputy Foreign Minister also presented the letter from the Foreign Minister, Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, inviting the Kazakhstani Foreign Minister to pay an official visit to Thailand during the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Meetings in April this year.

After the meeting, Jakkapong told the press that this visit aimed to promote trade and investment, explaining that the government recognises Kazakhstan's potential, including high population income and plentiful natural resources.

"Thailand and Kazakhstan have witnessed each other's interest in investment," he said, adding that this is in line with Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin's policy to seek new markets to attract foreign investment.

He confirmed that the government is ready to increase flights from Kazakhstan to Suvarnabhumi and Phuket airports from the current 40 flights a week.

"Up to 170,000 Kazakhstani tourists visited Thailand last year, so we aim to attract 200,000 people this year," he said, adding that Kazakhstani tourists often stay in Thailand for up to 14 days.

On Friday, The Thai Foreign Ministry, together with the Tourism and Sports Ministry and the Tourism Authority of Thailand, held a meeting with senior executives of Air Astana to discuss tourism and promotion of air travel between the two countries.

The Thai delegation were led by Jakkapong and Tourism and Sports Minister Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol. Air Astana's senior executives were led by vice president of marketing and sales Adel Dauletbek.

Meanwhile, the adviser to Deputy Foreign Minister Russ Jalichandra led the Thai business delegation to meet Galiya Toxeitova, head of the Tourism Department of Almaty City.

The Thai delegation received a briefing on Almaty’s policies on trade and investment promotion and discussed economic opportunities for Thai businesses, as well as management of Almaty City’s economic affairs, given its status as Kazakhstan’s major economic hub.

Almaty, as Kazakhstan’s economic and connectivity centre, is seen as having the potential to be the gateway for Thailand’s trade and investment in the Central Asia region in line with the Thai government's proactive economic diplomacy.