QUETTA, May 8: The Consul General of Thailand in Karachi Joompol Manaschuang has underlined the need for making more efforts for increasing trade between Pakistan and his country.

"More ways and means should be explored for raising Pakistani exports to Thailand to maintain a fair trade balance," he said while talking to newsmen in Sarawan House after attending a dinner hosted by Nawabzada Siraj Khan Raisani on Monday.

The Thai diplomat said that the trade volume between Pakistan and Thailand was $771 million last year and the balance of trade was in favour of his country as Thai’s exports to Pakistan were worth $661 million against $98 million imports from Pakistan.

The Thai consul general said in a recent meeting with the Balochistan governor he discussed matters relating to trade. Three areas were identified during the meeting in which bilateral trade could be given a boost.

These include shrimp farming, construction with focus on Gwadar Port and exploitation of natural resources, including minerals.

Mr. Joompol pointed out that the two sides could exchange expertise in different sectors, especially in the mineral sector, because Balochistan is enriched with semi-precious stones, while Thailand has a very strong gym industry.

He said that Thai businessmen and investors would like to visit and invest in Balochistan and invest here because the province has great investment potential.

Thai consul general strongly recommended that the government should

develop basic infrastructure to promote tourism in the province and other parts of the country as it could help contribute a lot to its economy.

Referring to his country where tourism is a major industry the Thai diplomat said that his country earned $30 million from tourism last year.