Govt presses for Thai-India FTA
THAILAND WILL encourage India to wrap up the long-awaited comprehensive free-trade agreement covering goods, services and investment after more than 10 years of negotiations.
“We should accelerate the completion of the Thai-India FTA after implementing the Early Harvest Programme in 2004 covering 82 items,” Sirinart Chaimun, director-general of the Trade Negotiations Department, said yesterday.
She is leading the Thai negotiation team at the 30th round of the Trade Negotiations Committee in New Delhi from July 13-14 today and tomorrow.
Thailand aims to seek the finalisation of the marathon talks.
“If the pact could be finalised, India could be a gateway for Thailand to penetrate South Asia and the Middle East countries, while Thailand could be a springboard for India to penetrate the Asean and East Asia markets,” she said.
This round will focus on bringing down barriers to trade in both tariff and non-tariff forms, opening export and import opportunities for both sides, exchange of raw materials and promotion of trade and investment.
Disagreement on details
The Thai-Indian FTA talks have stalled over disagreement on details of the liberalisation of trade in goods, services and investment.
They have been suspended for more than a year and will resume after the resend recent meeting between the two countries’ leaders.
During the Trade Negotiations Committee meeting, Thailand and India will have a subcommittee working on trade in goods, rules of origin and customs procedures, investment, sanitary and phytosanitary standards and technical trade barriers.
If the pact is finalised, many Thai enterprises could expand in India after some Thai companies have already invested there, such as Charoen Pokphand Foods, Italian-Thai Development and Srithai Superware.
Thailand could be a logistics centre and gateway for India to connect with other Asean countries as well as the main East Asian nations – China, Japan and South Korea.
Those benefits will serve Thailand’s “Look West” policy, while India has an “Act East” policy and “Make in India” scheme to woo more investment by foreign investors in its country.
India is Thailand’s 15th-largest trading partner and No 1 in South Asia.
Two-way trade has averaged US$8.46 billion annually in the past five years and last year reached $7.92 billion (Bt278 billion), accounting for 1.9 per cent of Thailand’s total trade.
