The Indian economy has been growing steadily as it has not been impacted by trade wars, said Jurin Laksanawisit, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand and Minister of Commerce in Thailand, here.

Laksanawisit, who is in India on a trade visit to Mumbai and Chennai during September 25-28, said India is a sustainable economy and it can stand on its own feet given its huge domestic market.

India’s imports are not very high, so it is not affected by trade wars and related issues, he added.

India presented a potential long-term opportunity for Thailand to sell its products and services, he said.

Being the largest producer of rubber, Thailand is initially targeting business ties in the field of rubber and rubber products and construction materials where it has the expertise to supply raw materials. “India is a huge market for our rubber products industry,” he added.

The rubber industry in Thailand is targeting Chennai’s automobile and textile manufacturing hubs.

The Thaidelegation, which comprises officials from the International Trade Promotion Department, Thailand Rubber Authority and rubber products businessmen, signed a few agreements with the Indian counterparts to supply rubber and other raw material.

More than ₹2,500 crore worth of sourcing contracts across product categories have been signed between businesses from both sides during the meetings in Mumbai and Chennai.

Also, there is a plan to source up to a lakh tonne of rubber per year from Thailand.

“Due to the higher cost, sourcing from Thailand was not happening earlier. As Thailand sees India as a growing economy for the long term, there is a decision to provide a special price for rubber exports to India,” KJ Janakar, Honorary Member of All India Rubber Industries Association, told BusinessLine .

The Indian rubber industry meets only about 40 per cent of the market requirement, and the rest is met through imports.

Thailand has also invited a business delegation from India in November and Indian onliner retailer BigBasket.com is to sign a deal with the Thailand government for the promotion of Thai products on its e-commerce platform.

Thai food push

Laksanawisit also said since Thai food was popular in India Thailand was keen on promoting its food products here.

“We want to sell our ready-to-eat, frozen and chilled food products in India and look forward to forging co-operation with Reliance Retail and Future Group in India,” he added.

Thailand also seeks to supply its bio-degradable plastics and related raw material as India is looking to reduce its use of plastics.

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