'After India, Heading to Thailand' Kim Dong-yeon: "Thailand is a Strategic Partner"

Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province (fourth from the left), is participating in the opening ceremony of the '2023 G-Fair (Korea Excellent Products Exhibition) ASEAN+' held at the Bangkok Convention Center in Thailand on the 6th (local time), cutting the ribbon to mark the opening.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon visited Thailand following his trip to India, taking steps to support local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in entering the Thai market.

On the 6th (local time), Governor Kim attended the opening ceremony of the '2023 G-Fair (G-FairㆍKorea Excellent Products Exhibition) ASEAN+' held at the Bangkok Convention Center. He said, "I have visited Bangkok several times over the past 40 years since my twenties for economic cooperation and international organization business trips. Each time I come, I witness Thailand's development and recognize its potential." He emphasized, "I consider cooperation with ASEAN countries especially important, and among them, Thailand is the most important strategic partner."

He continued, "This year's G-Fair is held in four countries including India, Vietnam, and Malaysia, but Thailand is the only country hosting it offline. I hope that through G-Fair, economic cooperation between Gyeonggi Province and Thailand will expand beyond simple trade to include investment, tourism, and human exchange. Going forward, Gyeonggi Province will strengthen economic cooperation and business collaboration between companies in Gyeonggi and Thailand," he added.

The event was attended by key Thai political and business figures including Jurin Laksanawisit, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce of Thailand; Kirati Ratchanawisit, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce; Arada Phuangthong, Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Trade Promotion; Pairat Burapachaisri, Vice Chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce; Wiwat Hemondharop, Vice Chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries; and Nithi Parachot, President of Siam Cement Group (the second largest business group in Thailand).

Deputy Prime Minister Jurin Laksanawisit responded, "Last year was a special year as the Gyeonggi-do Economic Science Promotion Agency and Thailand’s Department of International Trade Promotion signed a 'Mini FTA' (a trade cooperation agreement to promote SMEs). Thanks to the 'Mini FTA,' the Korea-Thailand economic market has expanded." He added, "This year marks the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Thailand. Hosting G-Fair, the largest exhibition in ASEAN, in Thailand shows how much Korea is interested in the Thai economy. I would like to express my gratitude to Governor Kim Dong-yeon."

Held over two days from the 6th to the 7th, this G-Fair is a Korean product exhibition specialized for SMEs, hosted by Gyeonggi Province and organized by the Gyeonggi-do Economic Science Promotion Agency. It is one of Gyeonggi Province’s representative overseas marketing support projects aimed at helping promising export companies develop sales channels, independently held by Gyeonggi Province in overseas locations.

After the opening ceremony, Governor Kim Dong-yeon toured the exhibition hall with Deputy Prime Minister Jurin Laksanawisit, encouraging the participating companies. Notably, Governor Kim transformed into a 'one-day salesperson' at the booth of U&IWON Co., Ltd. (located in Goyang City), a food company selling instant tteokbokki, and personally promoted Gyeonggi Province companies’ products to Deputy Prime Minister Jurin.

Thailand is the second largest economy in ASEAN and serves as a hub country in the CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam) economic bloc that connects the Indochina Peninsula and China.

Since 2016, Gyeonggi Province has held the 'K-Beauty Expo Bangkok' annually to support the overseas expansion of the cosmetics industry. In 2020, the Gyeonggi Business Center Bangkok was established to support local exports by SMEs in the province.

Earlier on the evening of the 5th, Governor Kim met with representatives of Korean companies in Bangkok at a local restaurant and said, "There are things so deeply ingrained in our society and daily lives that we take them for granted, things we want to break but dare not. Representative taboos include the taboo of catch-up economy, the taboo of hereditary society, and the taboo of vested-interest politics." He proposed, "To break the winner-takes-all structure, I advocate for more opportunities, fairer opportunities, and better opportunities. It would be great if we could all join together in these three rebellions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.