Thailand Invites South Korea to Invest on Digital Technology
Bangkok is known as one of the world's most popular travel destinations, and as a result, Thailand had attracted a record-high 1.37 million Korean tourists last year, the Korea Times reported.
Thailand now has a wider plan to attract more Korean tourists through its new economic roadmap known as "Thailand 4.0". The said economic plan is in accordance with the 20-year economic development plan from 2011 until 2030.
Thailand is Southeast Asia's second-largest economy by GDP. It welcomes South Korea to invest and share its methods in the country's aim of economic reform based on digital technology and other related advanced technologies.
Last week, Suvit Maesincee, the Deputy Commerce Minister of Thailand, told a group of Korean reporters, "Thailand 4.0 is about fundamental change, about transforming the mindset as well as the skills sets of the people, rebuilding the ecosystem, reducing economic inequality, and avoiding the middle-income trap."
He added, "Thailand and Korea need to work toward our strategic partnership and build stronger relationships across government, the private sector as well as with people. There are four areas where we need strong cooperation: digital economy, creative economy, bio-economy, and advanced industrial economy."
According to the Board of Investment of Thailand, there was a total of 2,237 economic development projects worth $22.5 billion that were approved in 2015 and another 826 approved projects from January until June 2016.
Maesincee also mentioned that "Thailand 4.0" may support increasing foreign direct investment from South Korea. He stated, "Japan has invested in the car and electronics sectors so far, but is making more investments in high value-added advanced industries. Korea can equally help us in the digital economy, creative economy, bio-economy, as well as advanced industrial economy. We are collaborating with some of the world's leading educational institutions in the biomedical and engineering spheres to build our Food-Innopolis."
