Attending the meeting from ITD were Mr. Wimon Punkong, Deputy Executive Director; Ms. Sirikan Prasertying, Director of the International Cooperation Office; Ms. Patcha Thamrong-ajariyakun, Senior Researcher; and other research staff. IVAWE’s representatives included Ms. Ha Thi Hong Van, Deputy Director and Project Leader; Mr. Le Xuan Sang, Deputy Director; Ms. Nguyen Hong Thu, Head of the Division of International Economics and Integration; and other members of the delegation.

During the working session, ITD provided an overview of Thailand’s economic development, with particular emphasis on trade and investment, the innovation system, and the digital economy. The presentations highlighted that Thailand’s model of economic integration has been built on a combination of regional connectivity through ASEAN and deeper integration into the global trade network. In this context, the development of trade, economic corridors, digital connectivity, and emerging supply chains has become an increasingly important driver, helping Thailand strengthen its position as a manufacturing, trading, and economic connectivity hub in Southeast Asia. At the same time, the growing volume of trade with the United States, China, Japan, and partners outside ASEAN demonstrates that Thailand remains significantly dependent on global markets and global value chains.

Against a backdrop of growing global pressures arising from geopolitical conflicts, trade competition among major powers, inflationary trends, and shifts in global supply chains, Thailand continues to emerge as an attractive new investment destination. However, Thailand also faces a key challenge in the coming period: transitioning from basing primarily their advantages on its geographical location and manufacturing capacity toward those grounded in technology, innovation, value addition, and supply chain resilience. Accordingly, Thailand’s FDI policy is not solely focused on attracting a larger number of new FDI projects, but also places greater emphasis on attracting FDI accompanied by the upgrading of production capabilities and technology, with the aim of increasing the localization of supply chains, upgrading industries, and repositioning critical production activities.

The participants devoted considerable time to discussing the impact of the current global context on the transformation of the globalization model, from a highly integrated system based on cross-border supply chains toward a more polycentric and regionalized model that places greater emphasis on supply chain resilience. They also exchanged views and discussed measures to strengthen the resilience of the economies of both countries.