Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai inspects handicrafts at the opening of the Made in Thailand Exhibition at Muang Thong Thani. The fair is being held to promote Thai products for export to the Chinese market.

Overland trade between Thailand and China is poised to rise by at least 25% a year with the opening of a road linking Thailand's Chiang Rai via Laos to the Jinghong checkpoint in southern China.

Route 3 (R3) will definitely raise cross-border trade between Thailand and southern China from the current 8.2 billion baht a year, said Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai.

The R3 highway opened last year and stretches 1,807 kilometres from Bangkok to Kunming. The new road will turn Laos, a mostly rural country, from being landlocked to "land-linked", said Mrs Porntiva.

To promote the new highway, Mrs Porntiva yesterday presided over the departure of a convoy of trucks carrying 15 containers of Thai goods for the Jinghong checkpoint in Yunnan province.

The cargoes are destined for the Made in Thailand Exhibition 2009, to be held in Yunnan's Xishuangbanna prefecture on Oct 1-5 during the celebrations of China's national day.

More than 200 entrepreneurs from industries including food and beverages, processed food, clothes and textiles, medical and pharmaceutical products, beauty and health, massage, cosmetics, gift and home furnishings, and agricultural products will participate.

Supachai Panpanich, the owner of Tanapat Supply, which manufacturers lamps using coconut shells in Ratchaburi, said he expected to increase sales by participating in the upcoming Made In Thailand Exhibition 2009 in China.

Tanapat Supply currently exports to six markets including the United States, Japan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and European nations. Its export revenue last year was about 20 million baht, while its domestic sales totalled about 10 million baht.

China is among Thailand's leading trade partners, with two-way trade expected to reach US$50 billion this year, up from $36.34 billion last year, said Mrs Porntiva.