Page 7 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL10

His Excellency Kirill Barsky, former deputy director of the Asia-Pacific Cooperation Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, minister- counsellor at the Russian Embassy in Indonesia and the Russian President’s special envoy to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, has been serving his country in Asia for over 12 years. Now the ambassador of the Russian Federation to Thailand, he continues his government’s policies of strengthening economic and political cooperation between the two countries, aiming to bring the people closer through cultural and educational exchanges. He spoke to Elite+ on subjects related to his diplomatic role and those close to his heart.What are your major policies to strengthen the bonds between Thailand and Russia?Thailand and Russia are linked by a strong friendly bond which goes back to the late 19th century when King Rama V of Siam and Tsar Nicholas II established diplomatic relations and personal friendship. After the Cold War, we recreated the fond political relationship that has now reached an excellent phase and is a firm foundation for cooperation in various fields.Thai and Russian governments have given a lot of emphasis on trade, economic and investment cooperation, not only on a G2G level but also between the countries’ business communities. Important intergovernmental and inter-agency agreements in the fields of energy, investment, tourism, transport and technologies have recently been signed. Just to name some, during Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Thailand in April 2015, memorandums of understanding on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy and between Thailand’s BOI and Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development, a joint implementation plan on tourism activity between Thailand and Russia for 2015-2017, and a few understandings between private companies of the two countries were signed.What sectors of Thailand are attractive to Russian investors?We think Thailand is a very interesting place to invest in. Thailand has a highly developed economy, a strong industrial sector and huge shares of GDP from agriculture and services. It is also a transportation hub of Southeast Asia and has so much potential in science and technology production, be it innovation, biotechnology or telecommunication. I hope, with Thai people’s consent, we will soon be able to build gas- and coal-fired and maybe even nuclear power plants, which we will supply machines and engines to. Thailand and Russia can also cooperate in constructing a hydropower plant in Laos and electricity transmission lines from Laos to Thailand. We want to build railways here and we can supply rails, rolling stock, road-building machines, etc. Another attractive area is agriculture. Last year’s bilateral trade volume shows an increase in exports of agricultural products to Russia.Not only Russians are increasing investment in Thailand. Thai businessmen are also expanding investment in Russia, particularly in agriculture. The CP Group has already invested over US$300 million, and has plans to invest up to $1 billion in the next three to four years to build more swine farms, feed mills and meat processing plants. Sutech Engineering Co has just finished negotiations with the Russian authorities on construction of a sugar plant in the Russian far east. I hope these examples will encourage other Thai companies to follow suit.Elite+ 5