Bangkok, 8 Oct - Ireland is moving forward to expand opportunities for agricultural and food exports in Thailand, strengthening closer ties between the Irish food and agricultural industries and the Thai food industry, expanding opportunities for Irish food and agricultural products to be exported to the Thai market.Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Pippa Hackett, said Ireland exports agricultural and food products to more than 180 countries worldwide, worth pound 16.3 billion or 5.8 trillion baht in 2023, with over pound 1.2 billion exported to other countries in the Asian region and pound 57.6 billion exported to Thailand. Ireland uses the Food Vision 2030 strategy to drive growth in the agricultural and food sector, which has a clear and ambitious plan for the sustainable development of the Irish agricultural and food industry, with a target to increase this value to pound 20 billion or 700 billion baht by 2030.According to a prioritizing market study by Bord Bia, the Irish governme nt agency responsible for promoting, developing trade and marketing for the food, beverage and agriculture industries, Thailand, Vietnam and Southeast Asia are important destinations for Irish food and beverage exports, due to the high market opportunities for dairy exports. Since 2019, dairy exports to Thailand have increased from pound 24 million to pound 54.9 million in 2023, with the highest growth coming from full-fat milk powder, skim milk powder and infant formula. Butter products have also grown, starting from pound 1 million in 2022 and rising to pound 3.2 million in 2023. Seafood exports to Thailand totalled pound 306,000, or 11 million baht, in 2023.Source: Thai News Agency