Visiting South Australia delegation shows solidarity with Thailand during difficult week
ERICH PARPART
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- AMID cancellations and the postponement of events after Monday's bomb blast at the Erawan Shrine, a delegation of 82 representatives of government organisations and business from South Australia - led by its premier, Jay Weatherill - has visited Bangkok with the aim of strengthening the state's engagement with Thailand and building bilateral investment and trade flows.

Meanwhile, a South Australia company that arrived with the delegation, Beston Global Food, has decided to establish a regional headquarters in Bangkok with an initial investment of 3 million Australian dollars (Bt78 million).

"One of the reasons we wanted to press ahead with the delegation is to send a message to the people of our state and our nation that we still believe that Thailand is a safe and secure place for people to visit and invest, and we wanted to show our solidarity with the people of Thailand," Weatherill said after the opening of a plenary session arranged by the South Australia government.

"Our prime minister [Tony Abbott] has condemned the attack and demonstrated his thoughts for the people of Thailand, and we wanted to show that in action, not just words," he added.

Thailand was South Australia's eight-largest trading partner last year. It became the state's 14th-largest export market (A$198.39 million) and the fifth-largest country of origin for imports (A$559.58 million).

Weatherill has met with the Kingdom's newly appointed transport minister, Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, and based on the South Australia-South East Asia Engagement Strategy, he identified to the minister the opportunities for engagement between his state and Thailand.

This mainly concentrates on the exchange of services and technology in key sectors, including food and beverages, education and professional training, healthcare, defence, housing and urban development, oil and gas, tourism, and other direct investment.

Arkhom said recent data on foreign direct investment (FDI) suggested that Australia's investment inflow to Thailand had improvement significantly to the point that in 2014, total FDI from the country was $553 million, while Thailand's direct investment outflow to Australia was $4.56 billion.

"These data exhibit and confirm the beautiful glory of trade and investment opportunities between Thailand and Australia," he said.

The South Australia delegation has taken part in similar events this week in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, and the state premier said he had "every confidence that this one in Bangkok will initiate good trade and investment relations", while recognising Thailand as a hub for manufacturing in automotive, electronics, and processed food and beverages.

"On the subject of food, I am very pleased to tell you this morning that a South Australian company has decided to establish a regional headquarters here in Bangkok. Beston Global Food, which produces dairy, seafood, meat and vegetables, has set up a subsidiary here with the aim of importing goods for sale in Thailand and using Bangkok as a base from which to sell to other Asean countries," Weatherill said.

"The company will initially invest $3 million [Australian] into Thailand, and might go as high as $20 million-$30 million in the years ahead. This is exactly the sort of investment we should be pursuing, since it is something that is a win for both sides while initiating ongoing exports at the same time," he added.

Other areas of interest for engagement between the state and Thailand are addressing energy needs such as power generation, including renewable energy; defence, in terms of training and exchanges of expertise; rail infrastructure; international schools; technology and services in the manufacturing supply chains, including for the automotive sector, especially in electric cars; and providing healthcare and associated products and services for the ageing population.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Visiting-South-Australia-delegation-shows-solidari-30267189.html

-- The Nation 2015-08-22

Waste of tax payers money

This is a win win for South Australia, Australia and Thailand. It is also good for ASEAN. Congratulations to all concerned.

"These data exhibit and confirm the beautiful glory of trade and investment opportunities between Thailand and Australia," he said.

Wow, think of the rake offs possible with this lot. Beautiful glory indeed!