MOSCOW: A special forum titled ‘Thailand and Russia – Bilateral cooperation through the lens of Thai business’ was held at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Bangkok on November 3.
Russian Ambassador to Thailand Kirill Barsky opened the forum with a speech on the present economic situation in Russia and focused on the trends in Thai-Russian bilateral trade. He spoke about the success stories of 2015, such as Thailand’s largest meat and animal feed producer, Charoen Pokphand Foods (CP Foods), which bought a Russian poultry business from Dutch firm Agro-Invest Brinky B.V. for $680 million.
Barksy also named Sutech Engineering Co. Ltd., which is in the process of building a Sugar Refinery Plant in the Khabarovsk Territory. The state of the art sugar refinery complex with a logistics area and vessel terminal will have an annual capacity of 500,000 metric tons.
The Russian Ambassador noted that the Far East is a unique place for investors, as it offers land, infrastructure and tax benefits for businessmen. CP Group also plans to expand its agricultural activity in the Russian Far East.
Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke of the need to speed up development of the Russian Far East. “Our main priorities in the Far East are an active social development policy, the creation of transportation and education infrastructure and of course, the expansion of economic freedom for domestic and foreign investors and better conditions for doing business,” said Putin during a plenary meeting at the Eastern Economic Forum in September.
Last month, Vladivostok became a free port. The free port status initially provides administrative, customs and tax benefits to investors in the free trade area, which also includes 14 municipalities in the Primorye Territory. From January, foreigners can enter the city without a visa for 8 days.
