[SINGAPORE] Singapore and Thailand businesses and associations have signed five memoranda of understanding (MOUs) to deepen trade and investment relations between both countries.
The MOUs were signed on the sidelines of the 7th Singapore-Thailand Enhanced Economic Relationship Ministerial Meeting on Friday (Mar 14), which marked 60 years of diplomatic ties between the two.
Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng and Thailand Minister of Commerce Pichai Naripthaphan co-chaired the meeting.
Both ministers reaffirmed the longstanding bilateral economic cooperation between Singapore and Thailand, and welcomed the partnerships between businesses from the Republic and the kingdom.
The meeting also saw “good progress” on discussions on agri-trade, investments, digital economy, intellectual property, carbon credits and cruise tourism collaboration, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a statement.
Dr Tan noted that Singapore companies remain keen to invest across a variety of sectors in Thailand. These range from traditional industries such as manufacturing, finance and insurance services and real estate, to emerging areas such as electric vehicles, renewable energy and the digital economy, he added.
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The Consumers Association of Singapore and Thailand’s Office of Consumer Protection signed an MOU that aims to strengthen cooperation between both parties in managing inquiries, disputes or complaints from consumers related to cross-border business-to-consumer transactions.
Shopee (Thailand) and the Thai Ministry of Commerce’s Department of International Trade Promotion agreed to collaborate on promoting Thai products through a dedicated store on Shopee’s platform, on top of supporting Thai entrepreneurs through knowledge sharing.
Bank and wealth management platform iFast Corporation has partnered TSFC Securities Public Company – a government-linked securities financing firm in Thailand – to develop a fintech platform which will enable Thai securities companies and financial institutions to seamlessly trade offshore bonds, with immediate executable pricing and full price transparency.
The Meat Traders Association (Singapore) signed two separate MOUs with Thailand’s Swine Producers and Processors for Exporting Association and the Thai Broiler Processing Exporters Association. Both aim to facilitate and promote cooperation in trade, processing and production, industry development and food safety.
Thailand was Singapore’s ninth-largest trading partner and its third-largest in Asean in 2024, with bilateral trade between both countries reaching S$44.5 billion.
The Republic’s exports to Thailand rose 14.2 per cent to S$29.3 billion, while its imports from Thailand stood at S$15.2 billion.
Last year, Singapore was also Thailand’s largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) at 357.5 billion baht (S$14.2 billion). This represented 43 per cent of Thailand’s total FDI applications.
