Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand has announced the resumption ofnegotiations with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) to improve trade,services and investments.
According to Auramon Supthaweethum, director-general of Thailand’sTrade Negotiations Department, Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit planned tostart the free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with EFTA in Iceland on June20.
EFTA comprises Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway andSwitzerland.
EFTA is one of Thailand's targets for an FTA as the grouphas adopted a free trade policy and has a high level of purchasing power andeconomic strength. They are leaders in innovations and technologies in additionto having significant investors, Auramon said.
She said EFTA has specialised manufacturing for heavy-dutyindustrial machinery and high-tech industries, especially in the fields offood, medicine, pharmaceutical products, biotechnology and oil and natural gas.
The planned FTA with EFTA will cover new trade issues suchas intellectual property, government procurement and trade competition, shesaid.
EFTA has relatively high standards and trade regulations,meaning Thai entrepreneurs wanting to trade with this bloc need to develop orupgrade their production in line with international standards, she said.
Auramon said this serves as an opportunity for Thailand toraise standards and regulations to be in line with international levels, whichwill benefit the country.
According to data from the Board of Investment (BoI) ofThailand, EFTA investors applied for BoI promotions in 16 projects valued at12.9 billion THB (366 million USD), ranking eighth among total FDI applicationsin Thailand.
It is projected that Thai exports to EFTA would increase by38 percent to 262 million USD, while imports from EFTA would increase by 14.8percent to 210 million USD.
EFTA was the 17th largest trade partner of Thailand in 2021, wth two-way trade reaching 7.5 billion USD, accounting for 1.29 percent of the Southeast Asian nation's total trade value./.
According to Auramon Supthaweethum, director-general of Thailand’sTrade Negotiations Department, Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit planned tostart the free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with EFTA in Iceland on June20.
EFTA comprises Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway andSwitzerland.
EFTA is one of Thailand's targets for an FTA as the grouphas adopted a free trade policy and has a high level of purchasing power andeconomic strength. They are leaders in innovations and technologies in additionto having significant investors, Auramon said.
She said EFTA has specialised manufacturing for heavy-dutyindustrial machinery and high-tech industries, especially in the fields offood, medicine, pharmaceutical products, biotechnology and oil and natural gas.
The planned FTA with EFTA will cover new trade issues suchas intellectual property, government procurement and trade competition, shesaid.
EFTA has relatively high standards and trade regulations,meaning Thai entrepreneurs wanting to trade with this bloc need to develop orupgrade their production in line with international standards, she said.
Auramon said this serves as an opportunity for Thailand toraise standards and regulations to be in line with international levels, whichwill benefit the country.
According to data from the Board of Investment (BoI) ofThailand, EFTA investors applied for BoI promotions in 16 projects valued at12.9 billion THB (366 million USD), ranking eighth among total FDI applicationsin Thailand.
It is projected that Thai exports to EFTA would increase by38 percent to 262 million USD, while imports from EFTA would increase by 14.8percent to 210 million USD.
EFTA was the 17th largest trade partner of Thailand in 2021, wth two-way trade reaching 7.5 billion USD, accounting for 1.29 percent of the Southeast Asian nation's total trade value./.
VNA
