Thailand works on FTA with European Free Trade Association
Thailand has kick-started efforts to forge a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), a regional trade bloc consisting of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
A cargo ship is docked at Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri. (Source: Bangkok Post)
Bangkok (VNA) - Thailand has kick-started effortsto forge a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Free Trade Association(EFTA), a regional trade bloc consisting of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway andSwitzerland.
Auramon Supthaweethum, director-general of the TradeNegotiations Department, was quoted by local media as saying that after aseminar titled "EFTA New Market in New Normal", the department hiredthe Institute of Future Studies for Development to study the benefits andimpact of a Thai-EFTA FTA.
Public hearings will be organised later to gather commentsfrom all stakeholders, she said.
Negotiations between EFTA and Thailand were launched inOctober 2005. Two rounds were held, but talks have been on hold since 2006.
EFTA was Thailand's 16th biggest trading partner in 2019,with two-way trade amounting to 9.77 billion USD, down 2.22 percent from 2018.Exports from Thailand accounted for 5.67 billion USD, while imports were worth 4.1billion USD.
In the first eight months of 2020, two-way trade volumeamounted to 8.39 billion USD, up 11.5 percent from the same period of lastyear, with Thailand enjoying exports worth 7.05 billion USD, a rise of 52.3percent year-on-year./.
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Thai Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce Vuttikrai Leewiraphan Thailand's formal proposal will be substantial enough for the US to consider further detailed negotiations. He hoped for a tariff rate not exceeding 10% and suggested that the US might extend the negotiation period if an agreement is not reached by the July 8 deadline.
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A cargo ship is docked at Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri. (Source: Bangkok Post) 
