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The Thailand Committee of French Foreign Trade Advisors in cooperation with the French Embassy, the Franco-Thai Chamber of Commerce and Business France organized a conference on “Thailand, Business Hub of the Mekong Region” to which ECCIL was invited to give a presentation on the business situation and on business opportunities in the Lao PDR.

The CLMV countries and Thailand are at the heart of 2 major international economic endeavours: the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Thailand has 28% of the region’s population, but 56% of its GDP.  Thai exports to the region have grown from 3.0% in 2000 to over 10% at present and as its economy matures with rising wages and an idea to transform the country into something that is labelled “Thailand 4.0”, the main actors are now looking for new playing fields

During the forum, major companies like Siam Cement Group, Essilor, Michelin, Airbus, Schneider Electric and ACCOR presented their regional strategies that use Thailand as their hub for activities in the CLMV countries.

ECCIL was represented by its President, Mr. Guy Apovy, and its Executive Director, Dr. Ramon Bruesseler.

The conference took place in Bangkok on June 8th and was attended by over 100 participants.