During the official visit to the Kingdom of Sweden on 4 March 2013, H.E. Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, was accompanied by a delegation of approximately 30 Thai business representatives from 3 major sectors, namely: the food, energy / green economy and medical tourism sectors. The business delegates participated in Thai – Swedish business events to further promote business ties between the two countries.
          In this regard, Ministry of Foreign Affairs brought the representatives of Fairtrade farmers and producers along to participate at the Business Networking functions in order to increase their exposure to the European Fairtrade supporters.
          In the morning session, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs arranged for the Thai business delegates to join the meeting with Team Thailand Members from the Nordic countries: the Thai Ambassadors to the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden, with the Prime Minister as chair of the meeting. The discussion included overviews of Thailand’s relations with said countries as well as opportunities for trade and investment growth.
Later in the afternoon, the delegates had the opportunity to visit SymbioCity, Sweden’s approach to sustainable urban development, which integrates different technologies and city functions; therefore, energy use, the landscape, transportation, traffic plans and control, pollution control, waste-to-energy technologies, telecommunications, environmental management and sanitation are all integrated to create synergy within the city.
          The Royal Thai Embassy in Stockholm, in cooperation with the Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI), took the opportunity to create business networks and spark exchanges and negotiations between the Thai and Swedish businessmen. The Prime Minister delivered a speech to further emphasise the opportunities of investing in Thailand. Thai Fairtrade products were also presented in order to create interest in this sector.