Border trade expected to fall short of Bt1.1-trillion target
The total value of border trade between Thailand and its neighbours until June this year stood at Bt627.48 billion, or 9.18 per cent less than the same period last year, the Department of Foreign Trade said.
Kirati Ratchnano, the department’s director general, said exports had fallen 8.6 per cent to Bt365.21 billion, while imports had dropped 9.98 per cent to Bt262.27 billion. The trade surplus was Bt102.94 billion.
However, he said, despite the downturn, border trade was getting better. For instance, from January to April the total trade value stood at Bt415.24 billion, which rose to Bt524.36 billion for the January to May period.
He said cross-border trade was improving because Thailand had discussed the option of reopening trading channels with neighbouring countries as demanded by the private sector.
So far, 40 border checkpoints have been reopened on the Thai side.
Kirati admitted that total border trade this year will not reach the target of Bt1.1 trillion, which had been brought down from the previous target of Bt1.5 trillion, despite improvement in business.
The first half of this year, trade with Malaysia fell 26.81 per cent to Bt109.4 billion, while trade with Cambodia rose 2.27 per cent to Bt82.02 billion. However, trade with Myanmar dropped 13.65 per cent to Bt86.74 billion, and with Laos fell 7.09 per cent to Bt92.29 billion.
Trade with southern provinces of China rose 16 per cent to Bt41.69 billion, as did trade with Singapore, which rose 13.70 per cent to Bt41.69 billion.
Trade with Vietnam, however, dropped 23.89 per cent to Bt29.9 billion.
Kirati said Thailand had been forced to close all but 25 of its 42 border checkpoints, which narrowed export channels.