Italy drought, EU’s crackdown on labour rights offer Thailand new opportunities
Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai believes Thailand can export more jasmine rice to Italy now that India has restricted its exports and two countries have been deprived of their tax privileges.
Phumtham said on Monday that he had instructed trade representatives at Thai embassies recently to look for export opportunities, and the envoy in Rome had responded by saying that Italy required more rice due to drought.
He added that the European Union has lifted tax privileges for Vietnam and Myanmar because both nations had failed to protect basic labour rights.
However, Thailand can only make the most of this opportunity this year, as the EU is expected to renew tax privileges for Vietnam and Myanmar next year, he added.
Phumtham also cited figures from the Global Trade Atlas to back his belief that Thailand has a better chance of exporting to Italy. The trade publication reported that Italy had imported US$303.29 million worth of rice in 2023, of which Thailand accounted for $23.62 million (858.76 million baht) worth of rice, of which $20.22 million came from jasmine rice.
With a 16.01% rise in rice exports to Italy compared to the previous year, Thailand became the third highest rice exporter after Pakistan ($113.63 million) and India ($40.76 million).
