written by Wang Gongqing / translated by Ma Jinyu

Thailand Will Act as the 12th CAEXPO Country of Honor

written by Wang Gongqing / translated by Ma Jinyu

On September 19th 2014, the 4-day 11th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) was concluded in Nanning, China. Thailand was declared as the 12th CAEXPO Country of Honor in the closing ceremony.

The 4th CAEXPO Country of Honor: Brunei Darussalam

The 5th CAEXPO Country of Honor: Cambodia

The 6th CAEXPO Country of Honor: Lao PDR

The 7th CAEXPO Country of Honor: Indonesia

The 8th CAEXPO Country of Honor: Malaysia

A mechanism named Country of Honor was introduced at the 4th CAEXPO. Since then, for each CAEXPO, an ASEAN country is invited to be the Country of Honor. The sequence of the CAEXPO Country of Honor follows the English alphabetical order of country names.

During the CAEXPO each year, a series of spec ifi c activities related to commerce, tourism, culture and so on are launched concurrently at the prominent place of the pavilion by the Country of Honor of that year.

Charming Thailand

Gen. Thanasak Patimaprakorn, Thai Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister attended the opening ceremony of the 11th CAEXPO. As the Country of Honor of the 12th CAEXPO next year, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Commerce of Thailand were delegated by him to make the Thailand-themed activities excellent and grand.

This shows that Thailand highly values its role as the Country of Honor of the 12th CAEXPO and strives to be perfect. In fact, it has always been attaching importance to the CAEXPO. On the one hand, Thai senior officials including its Premier, Deputy Premier, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce attended the previous 11 CAEXPOs several times. On the other hand, sincethe 4th CAEXPO, Thailand has already started to occupy a separate pavilion and highlight its competitive products .

Thai products are well received in the CAEXPO. Thai fragrant rice, which is almost a synonym for Thai rice in China, earns good ratings in the CAEXPO for its “hardware”--sticky but not greasy taste as well as its “software” -- special exhibiting way. For instance, Thai baby tolls with hands folded were placed in the pavilion of jasmine rice, making an eye-catching decoration in the 11th CAEXPO. Also, audiences could savor rice and win tourist souvenirs in the guessing game. The welldesigned “software” attracted visitors and increased sales. The “software and hardware” policy helps Thai fragrant rice become more famous and sell well.

Thai handicrafts, such as window grilles carved out of tree trunks, bookmarks made from tree barks and ashtrays made of tree roots also attracted many visitors due to their ingenious conception and fine handmade workmanship. With delicate designs and affordable prices, rubies, jade and gold and silver jewelries were favored by a lot of female visitors and made their wallets "empty".

A continuous stream of visitors came to the booths for Thai snack food, curry paste, dry durian, Tom Yum Goong sauce, shrimp paste, all kinds of curries, fi sh sauce, lime juice, wooden household items, crocodile leather purses, jewelry, aroma burners, essential oils and soaps and so on.

Rewrite New Songs

China has become Thailand’s No.1 export market, No.2 trading partner and investment source so far. The two sides are geographical neighbors and culturally connected with a long history of friendly contacts, which can be described as “China and Thailand being the members of one family”. 2015 will be the 40th anniversary of China-Thailand diplomatic ties as well as the 60th birthday of Thai Princess Sirindhorn. Governments of two sides have reached the consensus and planned to organize a series of commemorative activities at national level. Rather than "coincidence", Thailand is destined to be the Country of Honor of the 12th CAEXPO of 2015. This will be a new event for China and Thailand, and contribute to deepening bilateral friendly relations.

Thailand, as the Country of Honor of the 12th CAEXPO, will work together with Nanning and conduct a series of exchange activities, such as comprehensive expansion of bilateral cooperation in the fi eld of education (especially cooperation in vocational education) and the deepening of friendly cooperation in various aspects.

The 9th CAEXPO Country of Honor: Myanmar

The 10th CAEXPO Country of Honor: the Philippines

The 11th CAEXPO Country of Honor: Singapore

The 12th CAEXPO Country of Honor: Thailand