Agreement with European Free Trade Association to be signed in 2025
Commerce Minister says the signing, expected to be take place in Davos, should hasten agreement with EU
The free trade agreement (FTA) deal between Thailand and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is expected to be completed early in 2025, Commerce Minister Pichai Naripthaphan said on Monday.
The EFTA is made up of four countries - Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The Thailand-EFTA FTA is considered important as it has similarities with the Thailand-European Union (EU) FTA, which is currently under negotiation.
Pichai expects the Thailand-EFTA FTA to be signed during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He also believes the agreement will help accelerate the progress of the Thailand-EU FTA.
Addressing other FTAs in progress, he said Thailand kicked off talks with South Korea and Bhutan early this year while negotiations on the ASEAN-Canada FTA should be concluded next year.
Thailand is accelerating FTA talks with its economic partners to cope with rapid change in global trade and geopolitical conflicts, as well as boosting the country’s trade competitiveness.
Thailand currently has 15 FTAs with 19 economic partners, including nine ASEAN countries (Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia), China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India, Peru, Chile, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka.
However, Thailand still has fewer FTAs than its neighbours, with Vietnam boasting 16 FTAs with 54 partners and Singapore 28 FTAs with 65 partners.
