On 29 March 2013 in Moscow, Mr. Surapong Tovichakchaikul, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, had a bilateral talk with Mr. Denis Manturov, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation before co-chairing with him the 5th
Session of Thailand-Russia Joint Commission on Bilateral Relations.

In their discussion, Foreign Minister Surapong was pleased to note that the annual trade volume between Thailand and Russia had increased to 5 billion USD in 2012, tripling the amount three years ago.  He proposed to set a target bilateral trade volume to 10 billion USD in the next three years.  In addition, the Foreign Minister suggested that Thailand and Russia increase two-way investments, exchange knowledge and technology, and promote technical cooperation in various fields.  He viewed that the private sector could contribute to the strengthening of bilateral relations and further suggested that a business forum or a business matching activity be organized during leaders’ visits to create a venue for the private sectors in both countries to discuss and explore business opportunities.

After the conclusion of the talk, both Ministers co-chaired the 5th Session of Thailand-Russia Joint Commission on Bilateral Relations to review progress and discuss future directions of cooperation in different areas.

The Meeting was a great success.  Both sides exchanged their viewpoints on the Thai-Russian relations in many dimensions as well as reaffirmed their commitment to upgrade the existing relations to a strategic partnership.  Both sides also agreed to increase bilateral trade volume to 10 billion USD in 2016.

Thailand and Russia realized the potentials of each other.  Thailand can serve as a production base and a gateway to Southeast Asia for Russia while Russia can serve as a bridge linking Thailand to the CIS countries.  Thailand invited Russia to participate in the infrastructure projects to enhance regional connectivity to support the integration into an ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, which will be a large market for Russian products.

Both sides viewed that food security is an important issue and agreed to step up cooperation in the field of agriculture, increase bilateral trade in agricultural products, and promote investment in the related industries.

Thailand and Russia concurred that the private sector could play an important role in materializing and strengthening bilateral relations. The public sectors in both countries were urged to render their support to their private sectors to facilitate business transactions and to ensure that bilateral trade continues to grow.

Both sides agreed to develop technical cooperation in science and technology, communications, and culture, which will not only support the exchange of knowledge but also enhance people-to-people contact.

Furthermore, Thailand and Russia agreed to explore the possibility of setting up a working group on tourism to promote tourism and to protect the safety of Thai and Russian tourists, taking into account that in 2012 over 1.3 billion Russian tourists came to Thailand while some 50,000 Thai tourists went to Russia.

In his concluding remarks, Foreign Minister Surapong emphasized that both Thailand and Russia should not only translate the outcomes of their deliberations into concrete actions but also look ahead with a vision to include new areas of cooperation in order to bring the long-lasting Thailand-Russia relations to a new era of strategic partnership.