I recently had the privilege of meeting HE Korn Dabbaransi, former Thai Deputy Prime Minister and currently President of the Thailand-China Friendship Association. The principal topics of our conversation surrounded the opportunities arising from the developing business and commercial relationships between the UAE and both Thailand and China.

Korn has visited China more than 150 times since the 1970s and, during his former career in the Thai Foreign Service, has met personally every Chinese President from Deng Xiaoping to Xi Jinping. When describing China's journey he prefers the term "economic evolution" over "economic development" and recalls how he first visited Shenzhen when it was a humble fishing village. Today, it stands as a world-leading tech hub, a testament to the sweeping changes brought by reform and opening-up policies. He views the Belt and Road Initiative as a "belt of peace and road to prosperity" and sees it as reinforcing China’s long-term vision of peaceful development and constituting a foundation for shared economic success.

Beyond economics, our discussion underscored the deep cultural and historical ties between Thailand and China. Korn, a fourth-generation Thai of Chinese descent, noted how these connections transcend politics enhancing the Thai-Chinese relationship at a personal level. Mandarin classes in Thai schools and the growing number of Chinese volunteers teaching in Thailand further cement these ties.
As Thailand and China continue to expand their strategic partnership, the opportunities for enhanced collaboration - whether it be in trade, technology or people-to-people exchanges - are highly promising. The sentiment Korn often hears, zhong tai yi jia qin - "China and Thailand are as close as one family" - seems more relevant now than ever in this turbulent world of mercantilism and tariffs.

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