Border trade rises 15% on closer ties
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Thailand's cross-border trade increased by 15 per cent last year, thanks to closer cooperation under the Asean Free Trade Agreement (Afta) and the liberalisation of Burmese markets.
“Cross-border trade continues to play a more important role for Thailand with closer economic cooperation ahead of the Asean Economic Community agreement. More Asean members, especially Cambodia, Laos and Burma, are reducing tariffs,” Pongpun Gearaviriyapun, deputy director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, said yesterday.
Pongpun forecast that cross-border trade with Burma would increase significantly this year as the country has opened up its markets and plans to open more bordercheck points with Thailand.
Thailand expects cross-border trade will surge beyond Bt1 trillion this year.
Trade with the four countries bordering the Kingdom – Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia – grew 15.6 per cent to Bt899.78 billion last year. Exports to these nations were worth Bt587.35 billion, up by 20.7 per cent from the previous year.
Imports rose 7.1 per cent to Bt312.42 billion. Thailand enjoyed a trade surplus of Bt274.93 billion with its neighbours last year.
Malaysia accounted for almost 65 per cent of cross-border trade, followed by Burma with 17 per cent, Laos with 11 per cent and Cambodia at 7 per cent.
Total trade with Malaysia rose 12.7 per cent to Bt560.65 billion. Exports grew 18.4 per cent to Bt379 billion, while imports were Bt181.29 billion, up by 2.3 per cent.
Two-way trade with Burma was up 14.3 per cent to Bt157.59 billion. Shipments improved 19.2 per cent to Bt60.59 billion, while imports increased 11.5 per cent to Bt96.99 billion. Thailand’s long-standing trade deficit with Burma is due to imports of natural gas.
Thai exports to Laos improved by 27.6 per cent to Bt81.79 billion, while imports surged 26.7 per cent to Bt29.22 billion. Shipments to Cambodia grew 28.4 per cent to Bt65.6 billion, while imports improved by 14.1 per cent to Bt4.91 billion.
