MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th April, 2023) Russian and Thai businesses are asking their governments to streamline transactions in national currencies, the minister in charge of developing Russia's Far East region told Sputnik on Thursday.
"It is obviously very much in demand. business representatives mentioned the problem of mutual transactions. It is a problem for Thai exporters trading with Russia and those investing in Russia," Alexei Chekunkov told Sputnik.
Chekunkov and Thai Deputy Prime Minister Don Pramudwinai co-chaired the eighth Russian-Thai cooperation panel, which convened in Bangkok on Thursday after a five-year hiatus.
The Russian official said the government was promoting in Thailand its alternative to the SWIFT interbank financial communications service and its own payments network, called Mir.
"I think Thailand is one of our foreign partners that stands to gain the most from this because it historically welcomed more than a million tourists every year (before 2022) and we expect to go back to that number in a year," Chekunkov said.�
Russia and Thailand plan to boost trade to $10 billion. The Russian Far East Development Ministry estimates that Russia could potentially export over $20 billion worth of goods and services to the southeastern Asian nation. Thai investment in Russia stands at $2 billion.
