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Thailand, EU stress need for bilateral trade with India

In his address at the India Economic Summit in New Delhi on Tuesday, Supachai Panitchpakdi, deputy prime minister and minister of commerce of Thailand, said that the Asian crisis had affected most of the world economy in one way or the other.

The Indian economy had been much less affected in the initial statges, but is showing signs of being affected now with contraction and slow down in the economy, he said. He further advised that the economies should make efficient preparation for reforming one's economy in order to face the Asian crisis.

Talking about the bilateral trade between India and Thailand, Panitchpakdi said that with the kind of active relationship which developed over the years, Indo-Thai relationship was yielding positive results.

Despite Thailand's trade in Asia dropping by 30 per cent and by 23 per cent among the ASEAN countries, as a result of the Asian crisis, Indo-Thailand trade had dropped by only eight per cent in the first eight to nine months in 1998-99 because of closer economic ties developed over the years.

He said that India had to focus on (a) continuation of the reform process even in these critical times, (b) cultivation of bilateral relations with both major as well as minor ones, (c) concentrating on joining regional groupings and (d) moving ahead towards further liberalisation for developing as well as sustaining new as well as existing partnerships for the mutual benefit of each other.

Emiliano Fossati, director (Asia), European Commission, Brussels, stated that the European Union and India are on the verge of becoming global players. Eight years of reforms in India had put behind economic stagnation and Indian skills and technology were today the first choice in many parts of the world, he added.

Fossati said that as India developed, it could not overlook the EU because of the large market. From the point of view of the EU, he said India needed to move ahead on the path of economic liberalisation for strengthening Indo-EU trade. He said that protectionism was not a solution and had to be strongly resisted.

Fossati stressed on three aspects for deepening Indo-EU Relationship: high-level economic dialogue; partnerships and dialogue on issues like environment and climatic change; and strengthening cultural exchange and understanding.

These are the building blocks for any sustained partnership, he added.

UNI

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