Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai is scheduled to lead an executive team from the ministry to assess the readiness of the Boten and Mohan checkpoints to support the export of Thai fruit to China.
Wittayakorn Maneenetr, a ministry spokesman, said Mr Phumtham is scheduled to lead a trade delegation to visit the Boten checkpoint in Laos and Mohan checkpoint in China from April 27-29, aiming to facilitate Thai fruit exports during the 2024 harvest. Fruit from this harvest is slated for shipment at the end of this month.
Durian, mangosteen and longan sourced from every region of the country as well as electric transformers and iron ore are scheduled to be exported via the R3A route from Chiang Khong in Chiang Rai province to Kunming in China using the Boten checkpoint in Laos, which represents the shortest route. The distance covers roughly 1,240 kilometres.
The minister is also scheduled to visit China's Yunnan province to meet the governor of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and the mayor of Jinghong, a city in the same prefecture, to follow up on trade expansion between Thailand and China. Specifically, Thailand wants to expedite the decision of China's customs department to allow the import of certain items from Thailand, particularly dates, snake fruit and live cattle.
Mr Phumtham is slated to hold talks with Chinese investors interested in real estate development, hotels, tourism and technology development in Thailand, including the importation of agricultural products, beverages and consumer products.
"The minister is working to promote Thai exports. This trade mission not only enhances confidence for Thai businesses in terms of shipping their fruit abroad via checkpoints in Laos and China, but should also help increase exports of agricultural and livestock products in the future," Mr Wittayakorn said.