In the last few years, international trade channels between India and Thailand have displayed massive growth. With a stunning exchange of billions of dollars per year between the two countries, the blooming relationship has turned out to be fruitful for both the governments and private parties involved. Let us get an overview of the trade relations between the two countries in recent years.
India-Thailand Economic & Commercial Relations
Overview
- Thailand is the second-largest economy in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). It is an upper-middle- income country with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$ 504.9 billion in 2018.
- India’s economic and commercial relations with Thailand are rooted in history, age- old socio-cultural interactions, and extensive people-to-people contacts. India and Thailand celebrated 70 years of diplomatic relations in 2017. India’s ‘Look East’ policy (since 1993) and Thailand’s ‘Look West’ policy (since 1996) which has now metamorphosed into India’s ‘Act East’ and Thailand’s ‘Act West” are strongly contributing to consolidating bilateral relations including economic & commercial linkages.
- Two-way trade in 2018 totaled US $ 12.46 billion, with about US $7.60 billion in Thai exports to India and the US $ 4.86 billion in Indian exports to Thailand. In the ASEAN region, Thailand ranks as India’s 5th largest trading partner after Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The growing ties between the two countries have come at a time when the AEC is expected to bring greater integration among member countries be it in the form of physical connectivity, economic links, or cultural and educational ties.
- The fast-growing Indian market remains attractive for Thai investors, given the vast opportunities available in the infrastructure sector, tourism, and retail industries. India continues to remain an interesting market for the export of goods from Thailand. Currently, Thai goods have benefited from tax reduction under ASEAN-India FTA in Goods, which came into effect on 01 January 2010 and resulted in the flow of more goods into the Indian market. An Early Harvest Scheme (EHS), covering 82 products (now 83 products) under the proposed India-Thailand FTA, in place since September 2004, has already resulted in phenomenal growth in our bilateral trade.
Bilateral Trade
Thailand views India as the gateway to South Asia and beyond. As a result of the reduced tariff rates and new initiatives adopted by both countries, trade between the two countries has increased manifold in recent years. Bilateral Trade has multiplied eight times since 2000 to reach US $12.46 billion in 2018. Trade figures between the two countries for the last five years are as under:
Year | Total trade | Thai Export to India | Thai Import from India |
2014 | 8.65 | 5.61 | 3.04 |
2015 | 7.92 | 5.29 | 2.63 |
2016 | 7.72 | 5.15 | 2.57 |
2017 | 10.39 | 6.49 | 3.9 |
2018 | 12.46 | 7.6 | 4.86 |
Major Thai Exports: Motor cars, parts & accessories, Automatic data processing machines and parts thereof, precious stones and jewelry, rubber products, polymers of ethylene, propylene, etc in primary forms, electronic integrated circuits, machinery and parts thereof, chemical products, refined fuels, rubber, iron and steel and their products, rice, air conditioning machine and parts thereof, spark-ignition reciprocating internal combustion piston, plastic products, etc.
Major Thai Imports: Crude Oil, machinery & parts, electrical machinery & parts, chemicals, jewelry including silver bars & gold, Iron, steel and products, parts & accessories of vehicles, Electronic integrated circuits, Other metal ores, metal waste scrap and products, computers, parts and accessories, electrical house-hold appliances, vegetables and vegetable products, airplanes, gliders, instruments, and parts, finished oils, Plastic products, etc.
DBB Worldwide believes in providing a single-stop solution to all its clients despite their location of origin, nature of goods they deal in, the volume of goods, or any special requirements by the clients. Providing a customized solution for every supply-chain- related service required by a client, be it transportation to the storage facilities, warehousing of different types of products, international import/export of those products, international custom clearances, documentation, etc.
Investments
Year | Investment (million USD) |
2014 | 63.45 |
2015 | 37.53 |
2016 | 32.66 |
2017 | 32.17 |
2018 | 13.34 |
Year | FDI inflow (in million USD) |
2012 | 11.55 |
2013 | 60.89 |
2014 | 23.72 |
2015 | 24.3 |
2016 | 68.87 |
2017 | 81.76 |
2018 (Jan-Dec) | 92.22 |
Sl. No. | Name | Sl. No. | Name |
1 | Charoen Pokphand Group | 2 | Italian-Thai Development PCL |
3 | Krung Thai Bank Pcl. | 4 | Srithai Superware PCL |
5 | Stanley Electric Engineering India Pvt. Ltd. | 6 | Thai Summit Group. |
7 | Thai Airways International Pcl. | 8 | The Thai Union Frozen Products PCL |
9 | Rockworth Public Company Limited and Precious Shipping (PSL) of Thailand | 10 | Delta Electronics (Thailand) PCL |
11 | Allied Metals (Thailand) Co., Ltd | 12 | Pruksa Real Estate PCL (Real Estate business) |
13 | Tong Garden Food Marketing (I) Pvt. Ltd | 14 | Dutch Mill Thailand |
15 | Bangkok Airways | 16 | Thai Air Asia |
17 | Vee Rubber Corporation Co.,Ltd | 18 | Builder Smart Plc (BSM) |
19 | Siam Cement Group (SCG) | 20 | Minor International Public Co., Ltd |
Major Seaports in India
- Nhava Sheva Port
- Port of Mundra
- Chennai Port
- Kolkata Port
- Mumbai Port
Major Seaports in Thailand
- Port of Bangkok (Khlong Toei Port)
- Laem Chabang Port
- Port of Songkhla
Major Airports in India
- Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi
- Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai
- Chennai International Airport, Chennai
- Cochin International Airport, Kochi
- Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalore
- Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad
- Goa International Airport, Goa
Major Airports in Thailand
- Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok and Samut Prakan
- Don Mueang International Airport, Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Prakan
- Chiang Mai International Airport, Chiang Mai and Lamphun
- Phuket International Airport, Phuket
- Hat Yai International Airport, Hat Yai and Songkhla
- Mae Fah Luang-Chiang Rai International Airport, Chiang Rai
DBB Worldwide offers connectivity to all the major sea and airports in India and Thailand. This makes all the clients engage and expand operation in import and export of goods at a mass level via their choice of transportation, place of origin, and destination. Hence, if you are looking to expand your business in Thailand, you will not regret connecting with us.
With such booming industries and opportunities on both sides of borders, this is a good time to expand your business to the Thai market. The best part is, with so many freight forwarding experts in the market, you do not have to worry about how you will export or import goods to/from Thailand. Everything is available at the tap of a finger.