Enhanced trade with Russia bodes well for BBL
Bangkok Bank sees an opportunity to increase trade-finance activities with Thai corporates that have exposure in Russia after Thai government representatives recently visited Moscow to build up the relationship between the two countries, said Chansak Fuan
The country’s largest bank by assets joined the trip last month, along with a group of senior executives from the private sector.
He said the government aimed to double the annual trade volume between Thailand and Russia to US$10 billion by 2016 from between $4 billion and $5 billion (Bt116 billion to Bt145 billion) last year, which would open room for Thai exporters and support trade-finance activities.
The bank’s corporate customers are more involved in trade with Russia than in investments there, while Russian companies aim to increase the volume of their exports to Thailand. Russia wants to export commercial and military aircraft to Thailand as it does to other countries in this region, he said. Exports of medical equipment, machinery and fertiliser could also be seen.
For its part, Thailand currently exports agricultural products such as rice, rubber, canned fruits, frozen seafood, and frozen/processed chicken to Russia.
About 1.3 million Russian tourists visit Thailand per year, driving demand for payment services by banks as well, he said.
Russia is among the potential foreign investors that the Thai government has approached to join in the major industrial-development project in Myanmar’s Dawei area.
Chansak said the development of Dawei would take a long time like Thailand’s largest industrial park, the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate, which took 15-20 years to develop.
The existing investors for the Dawei project need to seek more partners to strengthen their capital. However, clarity on the holding firms or special purpose vehicles (SPVs) for each project in Dawei will be needed before banks finalise which ones they should get involved in. It was reported earlier that Bangkok Bank aimed to be a financial adviser to electric-power projects in Dawei.
The industrial-zone and deep-sea-port projects in Dawei are being built by Thailand’s largest construction firm, Italian-Thai Development.
The top five construction companies are customers of Bangkok Bank.
