Thai-EU FTA talks showing very good progress, says DTN

The third round of free-trade talks between Thailand and the European Union went smoothly, leaving plenty of room for the fourth round later this year, the Department of Trade Negotiations (DTN) said.

Chotima Iemsawasdikul, DTN director general, said the third round was held in Brussels from June 17 to 21 and was mostly positive.

She said smaller delegations had made great progress in talks ahead of the third round. Similar meetings will be held before the fourth round of negotiations to be held in Bangkok in November, she added.

Chotima said the DTN will also invite Thai stakeholders to provide their opinions before holding a fourth round of FTA negotiations. She added that the Commerce Ministry has prioritised these talks as the EU is a large market with high purchasing power.

Moreover, she said, if an FTA deal is inked with the EU, then it would attract more investments from foreigners, who may want to use Thailand as a manufacturing hub.

She said future talks will also include new proposals, such as excise exemptions for procurements by government or state enterprises and for energy and raw materials.

Last year, the EU was ranked the fifth biggest trading partner of Thailand after ASEAN, China, the US and Japan. The value of EU-Thailand trade last year was worth US$41.58 billion (1.5 trillion baht), up 1.43% from the previous year. This covered exports worth $21.84 billion and imports worth $19.74 billion.