Thai PM proposes ASEAN Brand for regional products

KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha has promised to support the regional private sector and proposed the "ASEAN Brand" for regional products. The Thai prime minister, who is attending the 26th ASEAN Summit and related forums in Malaysia from April 26-28, made the promise on Monday during a meeting of government leaders of member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and representatives of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The session was aimed at being a regional platform for exchanging opinions on trade and investment, with Arin Jira, Vice Chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) representing Thailand to participate in this year's ABAC forum. The Thai prime minister stressed that Thailand supports the private sector in fully exercising privileges in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), set to be formed by the end of this year, to reduce non-tariff trade barriers, while also facilitating regional trade and enhancing the competitiveness of regional small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The prime minister said that Thailand also pays attention to efforts to conclude negotiations on regional economic partnerships within this year to benefit the regional private sector. On the occasion, the Thai prime minister also urged ABAC to promote the "ASEAN Brand" for highly potential regional products and asked the private sector to help work out the ASEAN Community (AC) Vision 2025. Besides, the Thai prime minister assured that the Thai government will continue to comply with international obligations and support bilateral and multilateral free trade in AC. The prime minister also acknowledged Thailand's support for trade facilitation and the development of infrastructure to connect to neighboring countries. (TNA)