Thailand to tie-up for Green development mission

Kolkata: Thailand is keen on joining hands with India on the “Green Development” mission. A delegation from the country will visit India in July to explore opportunities for tie-ups with industries on the clean development mechanism (CDM) front, Mr Manop Mekprayoonthong, Consul General of Thailand in Kolkata, said.

Speaking at a conference organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce, Mr Manop said, “there are possibilities of collaboration for solar and wind power projects in India. The delegation will discuss climate change issues and will work towards exchange of clean development practices.” India was doing better than China on implementing clean industrial practices, he said.

While there are 40 projects in India receiving UNFCC registration for selling Certified Emission Reductions (CERs), Thailand has only 3-4 projects applying for it, he added.

Meanwhile, the delegation currently in the city today met the State Industry Secretary, Mr Sabyasachi Sen, and the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Director, Mr M. V. Rao, as well as officials of the Jute Development Corporation to discuss investment opportunities in the State.

Thailand has expressed interest in areas like petrochemical, food processing, steel, tourism and infrastructure, Mr Manop said declining to go into further details.

The team will be visiting Durgapur, Siliguri and Darjeeling shortly to explore opportunities in these sectors. Some tourism companies from Thailand are specially interested in Darjeeling, he said. Almost 500,000 Indians visit Thailand every year while only 30,000 tourists from Thailand come to India, he said.

Thailand’s trade with India has grown by almost 150 per cent in the last two years after signing the free trade agreement and is slated to reach $10 billion by 2010, Mr. M.K. Saharia, Chairman, ICC North East Council, said.