Cebu furniture, delicacies to sell well in Thai market

CEBU, Philippines - Furniture products and delicacies of Cebu like the famous Otap are prospect products that could make it big in Thailand .

This according to Thailand Ambassador Kulkumut Singhara Na Ayudhaya during the opening of the 3-day “Made in Thailand Exhibition 2009” at the SM Trade Hall in SM City Cebu .

Ayudhaya said that in line with one of the goals of the exhibition, which is meant to forge partnerships between Cebu and Thailand businessmen, he said that there are a lot of Cebuano products that could potentially do well in the Thai market such as furniture, food and other products like the musical instruments, among others. 

The Thai ambassador said that Cebu has been very strong when it comes to production of world-class and quality products. This, he said was one of the reasons why they have always believed that Cebu was one of the perfect partners in business and trade saying that "Cebu is the center of excellence."

During the exhibition, which is also in time with the 60th anniversary of the Philippines and Thailand diplomatic relations, Ayudhaya said that they would like to strengthen the trade and business partnership of both countries and take into advantage the many trade similarities of Philippines and Thailand.           

He said that since the partnership of both countries, there has always been a mutual trust and understanding between the two, which resulted to "satisfactory outcomes" which they wish to continue.

Ayudhaya said that the Philippines have been their 4th largest trading partner in Asia and the 15th largest trading partner in the whole world.

The exhibition which has around 30 exhibitors from Thailand showcasing their top products is expected to be bigger in the coming years as Ayudhaya said that he wishes to bring more of their traders.

Aside from this, Ayudhaya said that they also see Cebu as a partner in terms of education as most Thai parents send their children to Cebu to study.

He said that a lot of their students are in Cebu and are taking up medicine or engineering courses. "They enjoy coming to Cebu and learning here, especially in the Medicine schools," he added.

Ayudhaya said that for his next plans, he aims to make Cebu and Thailand closer to each other through different activities that both countries will be implementing.— AJ de la Torre