Tien, Chung-kwang
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of China (Taiwan)
December 1, 2022
(As Prepared for Delivery)
Good evening! Sa-wa-dee-krap!
It is a great pleasure to join everyone to celebrate the National Day of the Kingdom of Thailand. On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan), I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn, as well as to the people and government of Thailand, on this auspicious occasion.
The postpandemic era requires all countries to be more resilient, inclusive, and dynamic in order to speed up their economic recovery. Thailand has certainly been active since the beginning of this year. It has been a vanguard in the region by gradually loosening border controls and welcoming tourists from around the world. It has also worked with the people of Thailand to better adapt to the new normal. Thailand's efforts have helped make the APEC events that it has hosted this year a great success.
As for our bilateral economic relations, Thailand was Taiwan's 13th-largest trade partner in 2021, with bilateral trade reaching over 15 billion US dollars. In addition, Taiwanese companies invested over 559 million US dollars in Thailand last year, making Taiwan Thailand's fifth-largest source of foreign direct investment. This trend continued into the first quarter of this year, with such investment growing to 1 billion US dollars. As Taiwanese companies expand operations in Thailand under the New Southbound Policy, they have helped invigorate Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor in line with Thailand's bio-circular-green economy.. This shows just how promising our economic collaboration is.
As for people-to-people exchanges, Thailand is also the third-most popular travel destination among Taiwanese tourists, following Japan and South Korea. Now that Taiwan and Thailand have reopened their borders, more and more Taiwanese tourists are gearing up to visit Thailand and experience Thai food and culture again. I am confident that our bilateral relations will further deepen in the years to come, benefiting both our peoples.
This is Ambassador Janprajak's first time to host the National Day celebration in Taiwan. Since taking his post this March, he has been actively promoting our bilateral relations. He even supported the New Southbound Policy Film Festival held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this year. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to convey my heartfelt gratitude to Ambassador Twekiat and his capable team. I have no doubt that the partnership between our two countries will continue to flourish under Ambassador Twekiat's leadership.
In closing, I would like to invite everyone to join me in a toast: to the health of His Majesty the King, to the continued prosperity of Thailand, and to the everlasting friendship between our nations. Cheers! Thank you.