Russia and Thailand: Towards a New Stage of Economic Partnership

Russian-Thai relations have a solid historical foundation, next year we will mark the 130th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, and today are acquiring an increasingly prominent economic dimension.

Despite the challenging international environment, bilateral trade continues to demonstrate positive dynamics. In 2025, trade turnover between Russia and Thailand increased by 2.3% to reach US$1.72 billion.

At the same time, in the first quarter of 2026, it grew by a further 26% year-on-year. Thus, the current year provides grounds for speaking of a positive trend.

Russian-Thai cooperation demonstrates that even amid high volatility in global markets and the transformation of traditional logistics and financial ties, there remains significant potential for expanding mutually beneficial trade.

An important task in this regard is to further diversify its structure, increase the share of higher value-added products, and develop cooperative ties between companies of the two countries.

Russia is interested not only in increasing supplies to the Thai market, but also in expanding cooperation in sectors where our technologies, expertise and production capabilities can meet Thailand’s long-term needs.

These include, in particular, energy, industry, agriculture and food security more broadly, transport, digital technologies, science and education. Thailand, in turn, being an important economic and transport hub of Southeast Asia, has significant potential in such areas as food production, agriculture, logistics, and the chemical and food-processing industries.

This year, our trade and economic cooperation has gained considerable momentum. In June 2026, on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the business dialogue “Russia – Thailand: New Dimensions for Trade and Investment” was held.

Representatives of government authorities, business associations and companies from the two countries discussed the state and prospects of bilateral economic relations. The discussion went beyond the traditional trade agenda and also focused on investment, new areas of cooperation, and creating conditions for contacts between entrepreneurs.

At the end of July, the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted the forum “Business Dialogue. Moscow – Bangkok. A Vector for Business Cooperation”, organised with the participation of Russian and Thai business organisations. Such events help translate political agreements into concrete commercial projects, identify interested partners and establish new channels of direct interaction between companies.

An important element of the economic cooperation mechanism remains the Joint Russian-Thai Commission on Bilateral Cooperation. Its work makes it possible to systematically address issues facing businesses in the two countries and identify areas for further cooperation.

In August 2026, the 9th meeting of the Commission was held in Moscow, providing further evidence of the intensification of economic contacts. At the present stage, the role of such mechanisms is becoming increasingly important: they ensure the necessary coordination between government institutions and businesses and help create the conditions for long-term projects.

At the same time, the potential of bilateral cooperation significantly exceeds the current trade figures. We look forward to deepening the economic partnership, increasing investment and expanding industrial cooperation.

This requires not only increasing the volume of mutual trade, but also creating new value chains, facilitating the entry of companies into each other’s markets, and expanding the use of modern mechanisms for settlements and financial cooperation.

Russia’s and Thailand’s economic cooperation should also be viewed in a broader regional context. Russia consistently advocates the development of ties with ASEAN countries and supports the expansion of cooperation between ASEAN and the Eurasian Economic Union.

For Thailand, this opens up additional opportunities. As Prime Minister A. Chanvirakun noted, the Kingdom is a “gateway to ASEAN” and is interested in diversifying its external economic ties, expanding access to new markets, and attracting investment and technology.

A significant impetus to the development of our bilateral economic cooperation is expected to be provided by the 2nd Russia-Thailand Investment Forum, to be held in Bangkok at the end of October.

The main theme of the forum is “Russia – Thailand: A New Era of Economic Partnership”. We invite everyone to take part in the event. Registration is already open and is available via the following link: https://forum.rusthaibusiness.com/en/rtif-main.html#registration.

Among the objectives of the forum is to facilitate the establishment of new contacts, projects and investment solutions. It is time to move towards building a long-term partnership in which trade, investment, technology and cultural and humanitarian ties will complement one another.

Russia and Thailand have every opportunity to engage in successful cooperation. We have an active political dialogue at all levels, intergovernmental mechanisms are in place, interest among business communities is growing and, most importantly, there is mutual interest in expanding economic opportunities.

The forthcoming investment forum in Bangkok is intended to give additional momentum to this process and open a new chapter in Russian-Thai economic cooperation.