The signing was witnessed by Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang after a meeting on a range of topics from economy, society to national security.

JOINT PRESS STATEMENT between the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government of the People’s Republic of China issued on 5 November 2019, Bangkok

US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and the delegation of executives representing 16 American companies met Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana to discuss trade and investment between the two countries on the sidelines of Asean Summit on Monday.

US firms are interested in investing in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), the government’s flagship project.

Baxter International, one of world’s leading medical supplies manufacturers, has already invested in the EEC.

The company executives are also looking at energy, infrastructure and financial services areas, Lavaron said.

Ross and the US delegation are visiting Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to promote its Indo-Pacific strategy, which has been seen as counter move against China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Ross also expressed US support for Thailand 4.0 and praised the kingdom for moving up to the 21st place in the Doing Business ranking and successfully hosting the Asean Summit and Related Summits between November 2 and 4 in Bangkok.

This resulted in Thailand’s trade surplus being $1.275 billion.

Exports during the January-September period also fell 2.1 per cent year on year to $186.572 billion, while imports declined 3.7 per cent to $179.19 billion, which resulted in a trade surplus of $7.381 billion.

The council has maintained its forecast of export decline of 1.5 per cent this year on the assumption that the baht value will be around 33 per US dollar. It has also maintained the forecast that exports will grow between zero and one per cent next year on the assumption that the baht value will be 30.50 per dollar.

Among the existing risk factors are the continued decline of the global economy and the possible impact from the US decision to suspend the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) granted to some Thai export products.

US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said in Thailand on Monday that the suspension of tariff privileges under the GSP is “not a big deal” as it represents only $1.3 billion of Thailand’s $4.4-billion exports under the GSP to the United States and is a small fraction of total Thai exports.

He said the two countries still have time to discuss the underlying issue of workers’ rights before the removal of GSP takes effect in April next year. The commerce secretary was in Bangkok to give a keynote address at the Indo-Pacific Business Forum.

He said the two countries still have time to discuss the underlying issue of workers’ rights before the removal of GSP takes effect in April next year.

The commerce secretary was in Bangkok on Monday (November 4) to give a keynote address at the Indo-Pacific Business Forum.

Ross reiterated that the US government has placed priority on the Indo-Pacific region and is optimistic that more two-way trade and investment are coming.

US President Donald Trump has given priority to the region as he has met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently and visited Vietnam in 2017, he added.

Trump did not attend the Asean Summit and Related Summits between November 2 and 4. He assigned special envoy Robert C O’Brien to attend the Asean-US Summit on Monday.

Ross was accompanied by American business leaders at the Indo-Pacific forum, the second time it is being held after the first meeting in Washington in July 2018.

More than 1,000 business and government leaders from the United States and across the Indo-Pacific region gathered on November 4 in Bangkok for the business forum to promote the value of high-standard investment, transparency, rule of law, and private-sector-led economic development, according to information provided by US officials.

Ross said he and the US delegation would make a trip to Indonesia and Vietnam after their visit to Thailand.

He cited many statistics pointing to rapid growth in trade, investment and projects to back up his claim that the US has a strong commitment to the region.

“In fact, the US is the largest source of FDI in the Indo-Pacific region, with total investment at the end of last year being some $866 billion, far more than China’s foreign direct investment in the region worth $504 billion,” he said.

According to the fact sheet provided by US officials, since July 2018, the Department of Commerce has assisted more than 9,000 US companies doing business in the Into-Pacific region and facilitated more than $7.65 billion in US exports, of which $3.1 billion was for government tenders won by US firms. It also assisted more than 2,500 Indo-Pacific companies seeking to invest in the US, facilitating $18 billion of inward investment in the US from the Indo-Pacific. Meanwhile the Department of Commerce’s Advocacy Centre, which is focused on supporting US exporters pursuing public sector projects, has l,412 active cases in the Indo-Pacific valued at approximately $631 billion, with approximately $491 billion in potential US exports.

According to the US information, in November 2017, Trump laid out the US vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific, in which all nations are sovereign, strong and prosperous. Stretching from the US west coast to India’s west coast, with the dynamic Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) at its centre, the Indo-Pacific region is home to the world’s fastest growing markets and offers unprecedented potential to strengthen the US economy while also improving lives in Asia and around the world. The Indo-Pacific region currently accounts for more than one-fourth of all US exports, and those numbers are growing.

According to the East-West Centre, two-way trade with the region last year amounted to more than $1.9 trillion, supporting three million jobs in the US and 5.1 million jobs in the Indo-Pacific region. US exports of goods and services to the region increased by 4.5 per cent in the past year.

Asean is the top destination for US investment in the Indo-Pacific. In 2018, cumulative US investment in Asean was $271 billion.

From 2017 to 2018, Indo-Pacific-announced greenfield investment in the US rose 7.5 per cent to 439 projects, and the US-announced greenfield investment in the Into-Pacific region rose nearly 23 per cent to 1,022 projects, according to FDI Markets.

Greenfield investments are those when companies establish new operations in a country or invest in new facilities and therefore have a strong impact on job creation.

Government spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat said on Sunday (November 3) that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had met with Ross on the side lines of the Asean Summit to discuss trade and investment.

Prayut expressed his concern over the US suspension of tax privileges under its Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme on Thai products collectively worth about $1.3 billion.

Ross replied that the US remained open to further talks before GSP cuts take effect over the next six months, Narumon quoted him as saying.

Ross was accompanied on his visit to Bangkok by a group of American investors, whom Prayut invited to invest in Thailand, especially in the aircraft, digital and biotechnology industries and medical manufacturing.

Government spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat said the two premiers and other Asean leaders had a separate sit-down on the summit’s side lines.

Prayut said Asean’s relations with Beijing over the past 10 years had been among the most dynamic, she quoted him as saying.

Asean and China have committed to increasing trade and investment, targeting trade volume of US$150 billion next year.