ID :
355774
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 15:35
Auther :

Thai government urged to speed up FTA talks with Europe

BANGKOK, January 30 (TNA) - Thailand Textile Institute (THTI) has called for the government to speed up negotiating and concluding a free trade agreement (FTA) with Europe, after the European Union (EU) has cut its Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) for Thai exports since January 1, 2015. THTI Director Suthinee Phupaka made the call at a seminar, held at a hotel in Bangkok on Friday, pointing out that Thailand has to, thus, pay tariffs as high as 12 per cent for products exported to EU now, affecting the national competitiveness against other countries, including Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, which still enjoy GSP privileges from EU. EU has cut its GSP privileges for exports from several developing countries, including Thailand, after the US-based World Bank had defined the countries as upper-middle income countries from 2011 to 2013. Suthinee warned that Vietnam is currently holding free trade talks under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with the United States and FTA talks with EU, which, if succeeded, Vietnam would enjoy a zero tariff on its goods exported to the huge US and EU markets. Besides, manufacturers in Thailand have been affected by a hike of daily minimum wage to 300 baht in the country, prompting several local manufacturers of brand name products to have relocated their production bases to neighbouring countries, including Cambodia, which still enjoy GSP privileges. THTI chief, therefore, suggested that Thailand accelerate concluding FTA with Europe and help push for concluding the ASEAN-Europe FTA, while also speeding up boosting competitiveness of Thai textile and garment industrial chains, from upsteam, middle stream and downstream production lines. Meanwhile, the Thai National Shippers Council (TNSC) lowered its projection of the country's export growth rate this year to only 1.5 per cent, from 2.5 per cent forecast earlier, due to negative factors, including an expected slowdown in the global economy, a cut of GSP by EU, local producers' relocation of their production base from Thailand to neighbouring countries, a shortage of labourers, falling prices of agricultural products and the volatility of the Thai baht. (TNA)

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