Srettha Thavisin, the prime minister and finance minister, met in New York with prominent business figures in an effort to increase foreign investment in Thailand.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, was in attendance, and Mr. Srettha reported on Thursday that they spoke about the electric vehicle (EV) market.
Thailand, the fourth-largest car assembly center in Asia, has been providing incentives to EV and battery manufacturers as well as tax breaks for local EV purchasers.
Mr. Srettha, who is in New York for the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78), claimed he spoke with Mr. Musk about SpaceX, which is Mr. Musk’s company that builds rockets and satellites, and its internet project Starlink.
“I am impressed by the progress the group has achieved for humanity, and we have similar ideas about what a cleaner future might look like. We anticipate having more conversations, said Mr. Srettha, a former real estate magnate, via X, formerly Twitter.
The Thai government stated in a statement that Mr. Srettha through video conference informed Mr. Musk that his administration was prepared to support investment ideas within the country’s current incentive system.
“Tesla praised Thai human capital, which was suitable for investment,” the statement read.
Toyota and Honda are two car companies that have factories in Thailand. About 1.5 million to 2 million vehicles are produced in the nation each year, with about half being exported.
Southeast Asia, where Japanese automakers dominate the market, has seen a steady increase in the popularity of EVs.
According to data from Counterpoint Research, EV sales in the region increased to 6.4% of all passenger car sales in the second quarter from 3.8% in the first.
Thailand accounts for about half of all regional EV sales, followed by Vietnam and Indonesia, with Chinese automakers like BYD taking the lead by a significant margin.
On X, Mr. Srettha claimed to have met with Google personnel as well.
He added, “I was excited to hear the exciting news on the success of Google’s cloud-first concept in many countries. I was pleased to hear that Google has made Thailand workers gain 5 days of productivity annually.”
“I’m confident that the idea would also be excellent for the development of our economy. At the upcoming Apec Economic Leaders meeting in November, I expect to engage in a more illuminating discussion,” he wrote in his post.
The PM also had a meeting with Microsoft Thailand and Microsoft personnel.
“Exciting future of cloud computing and potential for Thailand were discussed in great detail. In the foreseeable future, expect to see greater public-private cooperation, he wrote in a post on X.
Additionally, Mr. Srettha mentioned on X that he had a friend who works as a senior executive at Goldman Sachs, a renowned international investment bank, and that they just had the opportunity to have breakfast together.
The prime minister claimed that he informed his friend that Thailand is welcoming to businesses and investors and that he wanted relationships with foreign financial institutions on all levels.
He said, “Goldman Sachs would investigate the potential for establishing a financial institution in Thailand.
Then, Mr. Srettha continued, “I also met with Estee Lauder executives and extended an invitation for them to invest in Thailand.”
According to Mr. Srettha, Estee Lauder recently inquired about seaweed in Thailand because the country produces cosmetics that use it as an ingredient. The business also plans to look into opening a production facility there.
President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea and Mr. Srettha met separately during his visit at UNGA78, according to government spokeswoman Chai Wacharonke.
The prime minister praised the deep and friendly relationships between their respective countries, particularly those at the people-to-people level, and expressed satisfaction with the first formal meeting between him and the president of Korea, according to Mr. Chai.
Both parties expressed a desire to strengthen their partnership as strategic partners and spoke about matters of common interest.
The PM invited the president and his spouse to visit Thailand and urged for a regular exchange of high-level visits, according to the spokesperson.
The two presidents decided to move the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations forward in terms of economic cooperation.
Along with these topics, they talked about soft power, nuclear power, startups, electric vehicles, virtual banking, and South Korean investment potential in Thailand.
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