The Thai Ministry of Industry has taken steps in attracting small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from Japan ’s Saitama Prefecture to invest and do business in Thailand.

Minister Prasert Boonchaisuk presided over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the ministry’s Department of Industrial Promotion and Japan ’s Saitama Prefecture to stimulate exchanges of industrial technologies and business knowledge between the two countries.

The MoU is expected to encourage Japanese SMEs to expand their production in Thailand , particularly in fields of electronics parts and health products. At the same time, more Thai SMEs will be encouraged to invest in Saitama Prefecture as well, especially in processed food and textile industries where they boast expertise.

It sets out a three-point cooperation framework including promoting cooperation between SMEs of the two nations, promoting their partnership in expanding their production facilities on a global scale, promoting exchange of industrial information and closer economic relationships between the two countries.

In the first nine months of the 2013 fiscal year, Japanese investment in Thailand totalled more than 201 billion THB. The figure is predicted to rise to 300 billion THB by the end of the fiscal year, which is still lower than the previous year’s record of 370 billion THB.-VNA