FTAs boost Thai exports of fruits

BANGKOK, June 12 (TNA) - The Thai Ministry of Commerce says that a promising prospect has been observed for the country's exports of fresh and frozen fruits, thanks to free trade agreements (FTAs) the Thai Kingdom has signed with many trading partners. Auramon Supthaweethum, Director General of the ministry's Department of Trade Negotiations, told journalists of the sound prospect on June 11, stating that amid impacts from the ongoing trade war between the immense Chinese and the US economies, Thailand's exports of fruits to China alone during the first four months of 2019 reached 668.8 million US dollars, a leap of 152.7 per cent year-on-year. Auramon acknowledged that Thailand's exports of fresh durian were on top of the list for the country's shipments of fruits to China during the first four months of this year, followed by Thai exports of fresh mangosteen and fresh longan, as well as frozen durian. Auramon revealed that Thailand's total export of fruits to trading partners through FTAs during the January-April 2019 period stood at about 1.29 billion US dollars, representing a 83.7 per cent year-on-year leap and accounting for up to 95 per cent of the country's total export of fruits to the world market. According to the senior official, Thai fruit exporters have benefited from FTAs the Kingdom has signed with 18 trading partners, including the ASEAN-China FTA (ACFTA), as well as those with Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, India, Australia, New Zealand, Peru and Chile, with China Hong Kong and Australia having become major markets for Thai fruit exports. The senior official mentioned that China and most neighboring countries in the ASEAN Community (AC) have already eliminated their import tariffs imposed on Thai fruit exports to "zero" per cent. The senior official cited official statistics as reporting that in 2018, China was the top importer of Thai fruits, totally worth about 2.02 billion US dollars, followed by Chile and Vietnam, with Thai exports of fresh durian being top of the list, followed by fresh and dried longan and fresh mangosteen. (TNA)