Thailand, Russia maintain plans to raise trade to $10bn in 2023, envoy says

Bangkok and Moscow maintain plans to raise trade to $10 billion in 2023, Thailand's Ambassador to Moscow Sasiwat Wongsinsawat said in an interview with TASS.

Thailand's Minister of Commerce Jurin Laksanawisit said at a meeting with Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov in May that the two countries believed they had the potential to increase trade to $10 billion a year, reports BSS/TASS.

"The trade target is still in our plan. However, due to the current situation and disruption in the global supply chain, we must be practical," the ambassador pointed out.

"To be practical, firstly, we need to resume the trade of traditional goods that we used to trade between each other. Secondly, since logistics remain one of the concerning issues among some of the businesspeople, we need to explore new business opportunities that require less or no logistical arrangement," he added.

"One sample of those is the content industry. Referring to the content industry, I mean, arts, music, movie, and design, which are all identified as priority areas of Thailand's creative industry," the Thai envoy noted.

Russian-Thai trade stood at $2.8 billion in 2021.