Wakayama gov meets Phumtham, pledges cooperation to benefit Thai farmers

Wakayama governor Kishimoto Shuhei visited Phumtham at the Commerce Ministry and the two discussed following up on the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Wakayama administration and the Thai ministry on May 28, 2019.

The MoU was aimed at boosting trade cooperation and joint developments of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) between Wakayama and Thailand.

Phumtham said he asked the governor to boost cooperation and connect Thai and Kayama SMEs in the furniture and agro-industries so that they could jointly develop products based on the strong points of each country.

Phumtham said the Commerce Ministry had recently held a meeting with Thai SMEs and the Federation of Thai Industries and they asked him to help push for cooperation in the furniture industry between Thailand and Wakayama.

Phumtham said the cooperation would connect Thais to Wakayama SMEs so that they could develop furniture products for exporting to each other and to third countries.

Phumtham said he also asked the governor to seek cooperation from food processing factories in Wakayama to import raw materials from Thailand.

The commerce minister said he learned from the Wakayama governor that Nakata Foods Co Ltd is interested in importing passion fruit juice from Thailand to make alcoholic drinks.

Phumtham also assured the governor that the Commerce Ministry would provide full cooperation if other firms in Wakayama wanted to expand their businesses and build factories in Thailand.

Japan is Thailand's third largest trade partner with bilateral trade from January to August this year valued at US$38.21 billion – exports worth $16.808 billion and imports worth $21.4 billion.