On 9 Sep 2026 GMT+7, in New Delhi, Republic of India, Ms. Supachai Suthumpun, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, chaired the opening of the India–Thailand Regional Co-creation Partnership at the Royal Thai Embassy in New Delhi. She met with Ministry of Commerce executives, Thai government representatives, Thai private sector businesses operating in India, and Indian partners to listen to proposals, identify obstacles, and jointly set directions to deepen trade, investment, and service cooperation in a new dimension.
Ms. Supachai stated that amid global economic volatility and geopolitical challenges, both countries need to shift their economic relationship from merely "trading partners"—buying and selling—to "Co-creation," or jointly creating new value by leveraging each other's strengths to become integral parts of each other's global supply chains. Currently, Thailand maintains a trade surplus with India, so advancing to sustainable cooperation requires creating balance and mutual benefits.
To open markets and create added value together, the Ministry of Commerce identified sectors with high potential for Co-creation aimed at exporting to third-country markets, comprising 8 key industries:
Beyond goods and industry, discussions included facilitating trade through services and payment systems, with ideas to link India's UPI payment system with Thailand's and promote local currency usage (baht–rupee) to mitigate exchange rate risks. They also focused on leveraging the Thai-Indian diaspora network and supporting startup business partnerships between both countries.
The core of this policy drive is building trusted relationships based on mutual benefits. The Thai Ministry of Commerce and India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry have set a joint goal to define "key cooperation sectors within 45 days," synthesizing private sector input and the real potential of both sides.
The Ministry of Commerce stated that once mutually beneficial industry sectors are concretely identified, this will serve as a foundation to advance discussions on revising and moving forward the bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Thailand and India to support future economic growth.
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