Bangkok - The Thai government Wednesday entered a partnership with the online marketplace giant eBay to promote the kingdom's e-commerce, which already amounted to an estimated 1 billion dollars last year.

Thailand's Department of Industrial Promotion signed an agreement under which eBay specialists will provide workshops for small to medium sized Thai companies on how to leverage e-commerce safely and sell online successfully.

The arrangement includes waivers of 25 per cent discounts for the companies' first 100 transactions on eBay.

"With 13.5 million internet users and an online trade value of 1 billion dollars, Thailand has a strong e-commerce growth potential," said Oliver Hua, chief operating officer for eBay Greater China and South-east Asia. (dpa)