French firms adjust wage
French companies in Thailand plan to adjust their employees' daily minimum wage to Bt300 in line with the government's policy to boost domestic spending.
Many French companies here have already increased the minimum wage to Bt300, and the rest have committed to do so next year.
In a recent meeting, French Ambassador to Thailand Gildas Le Lidec told Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong that about 400 French companies, which employ more than 100,000 Thais, plan to pay a minimum wage of Bt300 in accordance with the government’s policy. "The ambassador said that French firms already pay their workers well. They are ready to pay more, believing this will boost spending and benefit the country’s growth, Kittiratt said.
Paris has urged the Thai government to start bilateral talks with the European Union (EU) in order to boost trade and investment between the two markets.
Kittiratt said the Thai government would carefully consider the issue, as a free-trade agreement (FTA) would have both positive and negative impacts for Thai industries.
Thailand was invited to start bilateral trade talks with the EU a couple of years ago after negotiations on an Asean-EU FTA collapsed over differences of opinion among Asean members. The EU then sought bilateral talks with certain countries in Asean, including Thailand, seeing potential to strengthen trade and investment growth.
A draft negotiation plan between Thailand and the EU is being considered by the Trade Negotiation Department involving many areas, including intellectual property rights, human rights and trade barriers. The department plans to propose the draft plan to the Cabinet in the near future, and eventually for Parliament’s endorsement.
