Srettha holds series of meetings with French business leaders in Paris

Srettha is visiting France from March 7-12, and is scheduled to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron to present a plan on making Thailand the regional hub for aviation, transportation, tourism, and manufacturing of electric vehicles.

The series of meetings on Friday started at 8.50am (local time), when the Thai PM met with Sébastien Bazin, chief executive officer of AccorHotels, to discuss co-promotion campaigns to boost tourism in Thailand and Asean.

At 9.30am, Srettha met with Pascal Morand, executive president of Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, Franch’s high fashion federation with over 100 member associations, to discuss a plan on making Thailand a Southeast Asian centre of fashion and design, as well as young designer training programme.

At 10.50am, Srettha met with Gwendal Poullennec, international director of Michelin Guide, a guidebook of restaurants and hotels for travellers since 1900, to discuss the opportunity to promote Thailand’s soft power in foods, as well as ways for Thai chefs and restaurant operators to earn stars under Michelin Guide standards.

At 11.30am, the Thai PM met with Bénédicte Épinay, chief executive officer of Comité Colbert, an independent organisation to promote luxury brands of France and other European countries. Srettha invited the organisation’s members to visit Thailand, study the country’s soft power and hold discussions with the National Soft Power Strategic Committee on how to develop Thai products and add value to Thai culture.

At 2.40pm, Srettha met with executives of Valeo, the world’s leading designer of automotive safety technology for both internal combustion engines and electric vehicles to discuss strategies for achieving carbon neutrality in the automotive industry.

At 3.20pm, Srettha met with executives of Airbus Group, Europe’s largest aircraft manufacturer with a branch in Thailand that uses more than 90% local workers. Both parties discussed the operation and the future of the Thai branch that is the company’s second MRO (maintenance, repair and operating) centre for helicopters, responsible for the Southeast Asian region.

At 4pm, Srettha met with executives of EssilorLuxottica, a French-Italian designer and producer of ophthalmic lenses, optical equipment, prescription glasses and sunglasses with a presence in Thailand for over 30 years. The company urged the Thai government to improve the logistics route between Lat Krabang and Rayong, which will facilitate its use of Thailand as an export base.

The last meeting on Friday was at 4.40pm with executives of Forvia Group, the world’s 7th-largest automotive parts supplier. The company is interested in expanding its investment in Thailand and asked the government to improve ease of doing business as well as eliminate obstacles and delays in bureaucratic processes. Srettha assured them that he would take care of that.