On February 26, 2015, Mr. Andrey Krutov, Deputies of the State Duma of     the Russian Federation on his capacity of the Chairman of the State Duma’s Working Group in support of the regional producers and manufacturers, together with other 3 Deputies who are also in this Working Group paid courtesy call upon H.E. Dr. Itti Ditbanjong, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to the Russian Federation.

 

            The meeting was also attended by Mrs. Kalayanee Sirikul, Minister (commercial affairs), Mr. Boonyarit Vichienpuntu (economic affairs) and Mr. Sorawut Norapoompipat, First Secretary (protocol).

 

            The Thai Ambassador reiterated that the Thai side stands ready to support     the Russian policy towards the strengthening of the closer relations with    the countries in the Asia Pacific region including Thailand. 

 

            In this regard, the Thai side welcomes the initiatives of this Working Group to work with the Thai side on promoting the bilateral economic cooperation, as well as discuss the possible ways and means to better facilitate and reduce the business obstacles in the fields of food business and industry. Those include the red tape in the bureaucratic procedures, the extreme strictness on the sanitary rules and regulation and the matters related to the quota for the foreign companies to employ foreign specialists and the new immigration law with a prerequisite of the basic knowledge of Russian language and culture. 

 

            The Thai Ambassador also mentioned the potentials of the Thai - Russian cooperation on halal food and related fields of business such as halal tourism.

On this occasion, the Working Group has reaffirmed that the Russian policy towards the closer relations with Asia Pacific is forward looking and will remain active despite the end of the economic sanction by the West. The Russian side also shared the view with the Thai Ambassador that Russia could benefit from Thailand as its gateway for product distribution and the enhancement of the economic and investment cooperation with ASEAN region, especially after the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community in the near future.