Nonthaburi, Minister of Commerce analyzes the results of the Indian Prime Minister election. Advise Thai entrepreneurs to take advantage of the FTA to accelerate penetration into the Indian online-offline market. Expected to grow to number 4 in the world in 2025. Mr. Phumtham Wechayachai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, revealed that he received a report from Mr. Poonphong Naiyanaphakorn, Director of the Office of Trade Policy and Strategy (OCT), Ministry of Commerce. Regarding the impact on the economy and trade Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India from the BJP won the election on June 4, 2024 and was crowned Prime Minister for the third consecutive term, India is one of the 10 important target countries where Thailand will implement policies. Proactive Economic Diplomacy According to the policy of the Prime Minister, Mr. Settha Thavisin, who set up the Thailand team to integrate and work together. Create trade opportunities for the country Mr. Poonphong reported that under the admi nistration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the past 10 years, India has become the fastest growing major economy in the world with GDP expanding at 100%. 8.2 in the fiscal year 2023 - 2024 (April 2023 - March 2024) that ended last March. It expanded higher than the Indian government expected at 7.6 percent. When Narendra Modi first took office as Prime Minister in 2014, India's gross domestic product (GDP) at that time expanded at a high rate. It is also at 7.4 percent. In terms of impact on the economy and trade, Prime Minister Narendra Modi winning the election as Prime Minister for another term will not have an impact on determining the direction of foreign and trade policy. abroad in the long term It is expected that the Indian government will maintain its international trade policy largely unchanged. This is because the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) consists of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP party and important coalition parties, especially the TDP and the JDU, which have similar policies t o Prime Minister Narendra Modi, such as In addition, in the past, India has pursued an independent and independent foreign policy supporting a multipolar world. Maverick This clearly benefits India from the widening geopolitical conflict between China and the United States. Leading to elevating India to the world's production chain system, replacing China. and lead India to become an emerging superpower (Emerging Power) In addition, India has just started implementing a new foreign trade policy for 2023 on April 1, 2023, from the original foreign trade policy for the period 2015 - 2020. Therefore, it is another reason why it is expected that The direction of the said policy will not change much. Compared to India's current and previous conditions, the 2023 Policy sets out a roadmap for integrating India into the global market. and make India a trustworthy and reliable trading partner. Focus on creating an enabling ecosystem to support the philosophy. 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' or India's policy of self-reliance To promote Indian products in the global supply chain market. Help the country achieve its goal of self-reliance. along with the goal of being a world export center Focuses on negotiating Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with various trading partners such as the European Union, United Kingdom, Oman, Sri Lanka, Australia and Peru. Most recently, in March this year, India signed an FTA with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which consists of four member countries: Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. nn The strong performance of India's foreign trade policy is reflected in India's record export figures in fiscal year 2023 - 2024 (April 2023 - March 2024), with the combined exports of Indian goods and services. It has a value of more than 776.7 billion USD. And it is still necessary to continue following the direction of India's foreign trade policy. This is because India is still a market that is worth watching from many other countries. From the size of the market with the world's largest populat ion of more than 1,400 million people, coupled with the recent International Monetary Fund (International Monetary Fund: IMF) It is expected that India will become the world's 4th largest economy by 2025 after the United States, China and Germany. India is one of the 10 key target countries. Thailand will carry out a proactive economic diplomacy policy. which is the integration of work between the Ministry of Commerce Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Board of Investment (BOI) in the Ministry of Commerce There has been an acceleration in pushing for the exercise of rights under the agreement. The two FTAs ??that Thailand has with India are Thailand-India and ASEAN-India. which is in the process of upgrading the agreement to be more modern and comprehensive To provide maximum benefit to Thai exporters and entrepreneurs. Including pushing Thai products to be sold on online and offline channels in India. In 2023, India is Thailand's 11th trading partner with a total trade value of 16,044.9 mill ion US dollars or 555,217 million baht, accounting for 2.8 percent of Thailand's total trade. Important Thai export products to India include (1) grain. plastics, (2) chemicals, (3) fats and oils from plants and animals, (4) gems and jewelry, and (5) iron, steel and products. Major imports from India include (1) jewellery, gems, silver and gold bars, (2) machinery and components, (3) chemicals, (4) plants and plant products, and (5) other metal ores, scrap metal and products. Source: Thai News Agency