India,Thailand to ink pact on non-conventional energy
Financial Express, India
India,Thailand to ink pact on non-conventional energy
By Huma Siddiqui
23 June 2007
NEW DELHI, JUN 22: A bilateral agreement on non-conventional energy and another on cultural exchanges are among the agreements to be signed when Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont arrives here on a two-day visit on June 26. Leading a 30-member business delegation, the visiting leader is going to push for an early conclusion of the free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Thailand.
This FTA will lead to a major jump in the current $2.2 billion bilateral trade between the two countries.
Surayud, a former army chief will address the India-Thai Business Summit being co-organised by Ficci, CII and Assocham. The emphasis at the summit will be on pushing bilateral trade, which stood at $2.86 billion last fiscal and has been projected by Ficci to touch $7 billion by 2010. He will also be visiting Varanasi on June 27 and then travel to Sarnath.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Surayud will also lead their respective sides at the official level talks and witness the signing of some bilateral pacts including those on energy and culture, officials said.
Besides President APJ Abdul Kalam and Manmohan Singh, he is also scheduled to meet external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, commerce minister Kamal Nath and minister of state for non-conventional energy Vilas Muttemwar.
He will discuss a host of bilateral, regional and global issues, including intensification of trade and investment and issues relating to the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec).
The Thai leader’s meeting with Mukherjee comes soon India’s week-long ’Look East’ diplomatic initiative that also took the minister to Indonesia and Singapore.
Meanwhile, ahead of the Thai leader’s visit, a high-level Thai business delegation led by commerce minister Krirk-Krai Jirapaet arrived on a four-day visit to the northeast.
The Thai team will work out modalities for setting up businesses in the region and possible areas of collaboration.
Apart from the government’s plans to spend $15 billion on road construction in the eight northeastern states in the next five years, to promote partnership in trade, investment, technology and entrepreneurship between the people of northeast India and Thailand, an institute would be set up in northeast to teach Thai language.
