YEREVAN. – Newly appointed Thailand's Ambassador to Armenia Mr. Kriangsak Kittichaisaree speaks about 300-year-old friendship between Armenians and Thai people, potential for tourism development in an interview with Armenian News-NEWS.am.
Could you please tell about Thai traditions and rich culture of Thailand? Do you see any similarities with the Armenian traditions?
Thailand is at crossroads between India and China, there is mixture of two cultures. But we also have our unique traditions of Malay Peninsula. As to similarities between Armenian and Thailand's culture, the one thing that we share is jewelry craftsmanship. Three hundred years ago Armenians settled down in Siam, ancient Thailand. They started jewelry making and handicrafts and everything and we learned from you.
How would you assess the level of relations between Armenia and Thailand? What are the prospects for development?
Two years ago bilateral trade between Thailand and Armenia stood at $34.94 million, last year it dropped to $2.69. That is a huge decline that is most likely explained by economic situation in CIS countries. However, this year marks the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Thailand and Armenia, so we have to start new projects to revive relations between two countries in all spheres. We are planning to start from jewelry industry, and Thailand has applied to be a partner in free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic union. We hope the agreement will further development of trade.
We would like to engage more with Armenia in terms of cultural exchange. We have already finished negotiations on agreement on cultural cooperation, and we will start the process of signing this agreement soon. Yesterday we had a long discussion with the committee on tourism because you have many things to offer. Thailand knows how to do it. Last year we had around 32 million tourists in Thailand. We can share our experience how to be engaged in branding Armenia as a tourist destinations.
We also have some other investment projects, because you have strong potential in pharmaceutical industry, and this one of the areas we can explore. Our businessmen are looking forward to new markets, and Armenia can be one of them.
Which areas can be interesting for Thailand?
There is also interest in agriculture. You may be surprised to learn that people in Thailand drink a lot of wine. We import wine from France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Now we are importing wine also from Australia and New Zealand because we have a free trade agreement with the two countries. In terms of price, Australian and New Zealand wine is more competitive than European wine. We realized that Armenia has excellent wine.
Have you tasted Armenian wine?
Yes, I loved it. I think it is a chance for Armenian wine to have a strong market in Thailand, because we like this kind of wine. You need to think about shipment of products, because the nearest route is through Iran and takes about 17 days. If we can find some other means of logistics, the price will go down and it will be more competitive. One issue that we discussed is to finalize the agreement on avoidance of double taxation. We have already negotiated that, but we need to make it final. My agenda for this year is to make it become reality soon.
