Bangkok/New Delhi, Oct 16 (IANS) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas held talks in Bangkok on Friday on ways to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries. The meeting that took place on the sidelines of the World Bank-IMF annual meetings placed particular emphasis on enhancing bilateral trade, mutual investment opportunities, financial connectivity, digital payments, and cooperation in emerging financial technologies, according to a Finance Ministry statement.

Sitharaman also expressed heartfelt condolences on the passing of Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother of Thailand, and Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendiradebyavati. She also expressed deep condolences for the loss of life and property due to the recent floods. The Indian minister underlined that India and Thailand share a very special relationship forged by strong cultural ties, and highlighted investment opportunities offered by India's International Financial Services Centre (IFSCA) at GIFT City in Gujarat. She encouraged Thai banks, financial institutions and fintech companies to leverage its expanding ecosystem for cross-border banking, trade finance, capital markets, treasury operations, fintech innovation and wealth management.

The discussion also focused on facilitating greater two-way investment flows, including opportunities for Thai investors to participate in India's growing infrastructure and emerging sectors through investment platforms and vice versa, while encouraging stronger business and financial linkages between the two economies. Besides, both ministers exchanged views on advancing the proposed UPI–PromptPay linkage to facilitate seamless cross-border payments for tourists and businesses, and exploring local currency settlement mechanisms using the Indian rupee and Thai baht to support bilateral trade and investment.

The two leaders also discussed prospects for enhanced fintech collaboration, cross-border settlement of tokenised financial assets, and regulatory sandboxes, among others, besides emerging technologies like AI and quantum as areas of future cooperation. Finance Minister Sitharaman also held a meeting with her Luxembourg counterpart Roth Gilles in Bangkok. Both sides discussed enhanced cooperation between the financial sectors of the two countries, exploring opportunities to further strengthen bilateral cooperation, particularly in sustainable finance and banking.

Sitharaman said that India looks forward to the forthcoming State Visit of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg to India early next year as an opportunity to further strengthen the India-Luxembourg economic and financial partnership.

--IANS