2013.07.30-31 Ambassador visited Toyama Prefecture

05/08/2013

On 30-31 July 2013, Ambassador Thanatip Upatising, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to Japan, and Madam Monthip Upatising, the wife of the Ambassador, visited Toyama Prefecture to meet with Japanese private sector in Toyama prefecture and gave a briefing regarding the Thailand-Japan Economic relations in the 1st  annual meeting of Toyama-Thailand Association. On this occasion, Ambassador Thanatip also had an opportunity to pay visits to many prominent persons of Toyama prefecture; such as  Mr. Takakatsu Ishii, the Governor of Toyama prefecture, Mr. Masanari Nomura, the President of Toyama-Thailand Association; and Mr. Shinichiro Inushima, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Toyama Prefecture.

Dialogue with the Governor: the Governor expresses his satisfaction to witness the relations between the prefecture and Thailand develops continuously. Regarding the number of tourists, tourists from Thailand has increased continuously especially that in the Alpine Route between Tateyama-Kurobe. Only between April – July 2013 are there 6,900 Thai tourists visiting Toyama prefecture already, which is about 1.8 times larger than that of the same period’s previous year. The Ambassador hoped that the visa-exemption measure for Thai citizens, which was put into effect from 1 July 2013 onwards, would help increase the number of Thai tourists visiting Toyama prefecture even further.

Dialogue with the President of Toyama-Thailand Association: the Ambassador expressed his thanks for the Association’s hard work and its significant role in strengthening the economic relations between Thailand and Toyama prefecture, as well as for publicizing Thailand to make it better-known among Toyama people; and also wished that the Association would play even more important role in the future.

Dialogue with the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Toyama prefecture: Ambassador expressed his thanks to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Toyama prefecture for constantly encouraging firms in Toyama prefecture to invest in Thailand. At present, there are 37 companies from Toyama prefecture investing in Thailand.  Likewise, the president also expressed his appreciation to the Ambassador for placing importance on the organization’ work and  on the prefecture itself, and informed the Ambassador that companies from Toyama prefecture which are now doing businesses in Thailand not only have no difficulty running the operation in Thailand, but also admired the hard work and adept skill of Thai labors.

Gist of the briefing given by the Ambassador: Ambassador stressed the deep-rooted relation between Thailand and Japan as “Old Friend and Modern Partner,” as well as strategic partners, in term of economics, security, and people-to-people exchange. Ambassador also emphasized the promising opportunity and benefits which Japanese investors would gain from investing in Thailand, given Thailand’s sound economic background, the priority the Thai government placing on the development of the connectivity throughout the region, the improvement of the nationwide infrastructure, especially the high-speed train system as well as the developmental project in Dawei special economic zone and deep-sea port.  After in the inauguration of ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, each member of ASEAN countries’ economies will grow substantially, Japanese investors are encouraged to make use of their production bases in Thailand to expand their businesses and production bases even further in the region to its neighboring countries.