Cabinet nod for beginning of talks with European Union for FTA
The Cabinet on Tuesday gave the green light for the start of negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) between Thailand and the European Union (EU).
Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said he would inform his EU counterpart and discuss work on creating an FTA with the 27-member group.
"Negotiations on the Thailand-EU FTA will begin once we receive permission," he said.
He said Thailand currently has 14 FTAs with 18 countries. If the negotiations succeed, Thailand would have 15 FTAs with 45 countries, he added.
If we can make one to two more FTAs, we will gain an advantage over Vietnam in foreign trade and investment promotion, he said, adding that Thailand had waited for 10 years to have an FTA with the EU.
"We will kick off negotiations [on Thailand-EU FTA] within the first quarter this year," he said.
He added that the EU currently has FTAs with two Asean countries--Vietnam and Singapore.
"If negotiations succeed, Thailand will be the third Asean country," he said.
EU is Thailand's fourth-largest trade partner, behind China, the US and Japan. Trade with the EU accounts for 7% of Thailand's global trade.
Trade between Thailand and the EU last year was valued at US$41.03 billion (1.38 trillion baht), up 2.87% year on year, of which Thailand's exports to EU were worth $22.79 billion (843.37 billion baht).
Thailand exports many products to EU, such as computer, cars, air conditioners, rubber products, gems and jewellery and processed chicken meat. Thailand's imports from the EU included machinery, chemicals and medicines.
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