Thailand gets ready for trade negotiations as new Apec chair
The Department of Trade Negotiations (DTN) is getting ready to hold Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forums next year now that Thailand has taken over as chairman.
Apec symposiums in 2022 will follow the theme “Open. Connect. Balance.”
DTN director-general Auramon Supthaweethum said the Apec Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting in May will focus on regional cooperation on several subjects, including boosting Asia-Pacific economies in the post-Covid era, working on the Free Trade Area of Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) and promoting the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) economic model among businesses.
“We will hold up to 10 official-level meetings next year – four involving the Committee on Trade and Investment, three meetings with the Market Access Group and three with the Group on Services – to expand trade and investment, lift trade barriers and facilitate regional trade and investment," she said.
She added that DTN also plans to hold two symposiums in May, one on how the FTAAP can be used to drive Asia-Pacific economic integration and another on exchanging knowledge to promote the BCG model.
“We believe comments and ideas from the two symposiums will benefit Thailand and Apec economic development,” she added.
In 2020, trade between Thailand and Apec stood at 9.8 trillion baht, with Thai exports accounting for 5.1 trillion baht and imports standing at 4.7 billion baht. Trade with Apec countries accounts for 71.9 per cent of Thailand’s overall trade.
In the first nine months of this year (January-September) trade with Apec countries stood at 8.8 trillion baht, up 23 per cent compared to the same period last year. Of that, exports accounted for 4.47 trillion baht and imports stood at 4.41 trillion baht.
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