If Czech companies want to succeed in Thailand, they have to be visible there

At the end of August the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic will accompanies the Deputy Minister of Trade to a business mission to Thailand. We talked about the business opportunities, the Thai market and the official visit to Thailand with the Ambassador of Royal Thai Embassy in Prague, Mr. Narongem Sasitornem.

Czechoslovakia is synonym for engineering in Thailand. Products from Czechoslovakia were available in Thai markets over hundred years ago and they had good reputation among Thais since then. We also owe historically good relations to King Rama VII, who visited Czechoslovakia in 193245 and recognized its technological potential. He visited many industrial centres and businesses such as Plzen Enterprise, now Škoda Transportation, and Moser Glassworks. It was a very extensive and substantive visit. I think he hads laid the strong foundation for the longstanding friendship and cooperation for our countries

I would like to emphasize that the Thai market is very open and it has remained so for the past 50 years. If someone has a competitive product, he will succeed in Thailand. Thailand has an open business climate with well-established market environmentFor example, I would like to mention Baťa, which has been able to establish itself on the Thai market, so well that even Thai people often think Baťa is Thai brand. The key to success in Thailand is the need to be visible here. Czech brands and products should be more visible in the Thai markets. You have to bring those topquality products to trade fairs.

I see a great opportunity for engineering products that are of high quality. As Thailand is the regional hub of manufacturing industries, there are always demands for machineries and engineering products from Czech Republic. In addition, the Thai government is fastly developing digital infrastructure to ensure digital access for every village. We have 67 million population but almost 90 million cell phone users, a lot of those are smartphones. I believe there is a great opportunity for Czech digital businesses or start-ups in Thailand.

Thailand has made achievements in developing our economy from low income to high middle income country. Thailand 4.0 is aimed at moving us to a high income economy. This is a very comprehensive package. We talk about new industries as new engines of growth – S-Curve: Next generation automotive, smart electronics, medical tourism, biotechnology and food for the future; New S-Curve: robotics, aviation, biofuels, medical hub and digital. But not just about new key industries, Thailand 4.0 also includes education 4.0, infrastructure upgrading and more. And the project “Eastern Economic Corridor” or EEC is the masterpiece of this policy package.

It is an investment of $ 43 billion for the next 5 years in infrastructure, digitization, robotics, automotive and other development areas. For example, we plan to build the third international airport for Bangkok and link it to other two airports so that the journey takes between them for a maximum of one hour. For example, we want to build a tram network in Phuket. Infrastructure investments will be enormous and carry great business opportunities.

The major advantage of the Thai economy is its stability. Every government is committed to pro market economic policy. At the moment, our economy is growing well, expecting to grow about 3.5-4 percent this year. Exports are picking up, tourism has always been very robust. Private and public investments are also showing a strong momentum. Our macroeconomic position is now very strong, with high foreign reserves (almost $200 billion), low public debt (less than 43 percent of GDP) and low unemployment. Past few years, the numbers might not be very good but I believe we will have good years ahead of us.