Thailand's exports beat expectations by growing 16.2 percent in February. (Photo: bangkokpost.com) Local media cited the Thai Commerce Ministry's report showing that customs-cleared exports fetched 23.48 billion USD in February, with imports rising by 16.8 percent to 23.35 billion USD, resulting in a trade surplus of 123.3 million USD.
For the first two months of the year, exports rose by 12.2 percent to 44.74 billion USD, with imports surging 18.7 percent to 47.14 billion USD, resulting in a trade deficit of 2.4 billion USD.
Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said impact from the Russia-Ukraine conflict on Thailand's international trade is likely to be seen clearly in March and April, which deserves close monitoring.
He said that the ministry has still maintained the export growth target at 3-4 percent this year, with key risk factors including rising oil prices from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
In a related development, Jurin said the ministry has called a meeting of the joint public-private committee to boost exports, notably for rice, which is now in high demand.
The ministry believes Thai rice exports may exceed the 7-million-tonne target set by the ministry for 2022, partly driven by new markets such as Saudi Arabia.
Thai rice shipments reached 1.5 million tonnes in the first two months of this year, compared with 900,000 tonnes in the same period of 2021.
According to Jurin, the Commerce Ministry also aims to sign 11 deals to form deeper partnerships through "mini-free trade agreements" (mini-FTAs) this year./.
VNA
