Singapore and Thai firms, organisations ink 5 pacts covering e-commerce and other areas

SINGAPORE – Singapore and Thai businesses and commerce-related organisations on March 14 agreed to deepen their trade and investment ties in areas such as cross-border e-commerce and fintech.

Five memorandums of understanding (MOUs) were signed on the sidelines of the 7th Singapore-Thailand Enhanced Economic Relationship Ministerial Meeting held here.

The meeting between trade officials of the two countries was jointly chaired by Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng and Thailand’s Minister of Commerce Pichai Naripthaphan.

During the meeting, both ministers reaffirmed the longstanding economic cooperation between the two countries and welcomed partnerships between Singapore and Thai businesses.

The ministers witnessed the exchange of the 2025-2027 Work Plan on intellectual property collaboration between the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore and Thailand’s Department of Intellectual Property.

They also discussed collaborations in areas such as agritrade, investments, digital economy, intellectual property, carbon credits and cruise tourism.

Singapore-listed digital banking and wealth management platform iFast signed an MOU with Thailand’s TSFC Securities to develop a fintech platform which would enable Thai securities companies to access global investment products offered by iFast.

Shopee (Thailand) and the Thai Ministry of Commerce’s Department of International Trade Promotion agreed to market Thai products through a dedicated Thai store on Shopee’s platform.

The Meat Traders Association (Singapore) signed two separate MOUs with Thailand’s Swine Producers and Processors for Exporting Association and Thai Broiler Processing Exporters Association.

The MOU signed between the Consumers Association of Singapore and Thailand’s Office of Consumer Protection is aimed at increasing cooperation between the two entities in handling any inquiry, dispute or complaint received from consumers relating to cross-border, business-to-consumer transactions.

Dr Tan, in his opening remarks at the ministerial meeting, said Singapore companies were keen to invest in Thailand, across a wide variety of sectors, including manufacturing, finance and insurance services, as well as real estate.

He said new and emerging areas such as electric vehicles, renewable energy and the digital economy were also in focus.

Dr Tan, who is also Manpower Minister, said Singapore has consistently been one of the top investors in Thailand since 2015 and emerged as the top investor in 2024. The Ministry of Trade and Industry said Singapore’s foreign direct investment (FDI) in Thailand totalled 357.5 billion baht (S$14.2 billion) in 2024, amounting to 43 per cent of Thailand’s total FDI applications.

Thailand was Singapore’s ninth-largest trading partner in 2024, with bilateral trade between the two sides reaching $44.47 billion.

Dr Tan said: “This year, we have strengthened the business linkages between our countries, tapping our complementary strengths for win-win outcomes for both our economies.

“As we mark 60 years of diplomatic relations, I look forward to deepening our partnership for another 60 years and beyond, to capture new opportunities for our businesses and people.”

Dr Tan also announced that the Singapore Business Federation will be organising its flagship Singapore Regional Business Forum in Bangkok later in 2025.

“Our economies complement each other well, as we continue to work together to spur mutual economic growth and development. Our companies have also found good partners in one another,” he said.