Thailand to boost exports to NZ by 8% in 2014

BANGKOK, September 13 (TNA) - The Ministry of Commerce plans to boost Thai exports to New Zealand by 8 per cent year-on-year in 2014. Nantawan Sakuntanak, Director-General of the ministry's Department of International Trade Promotion, told journalists on Saturday that her department plans to use Thailand-New Zealand Closer Economic Partnership Agreement and the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement as major tools to boost Thai exports to New Zealand, which should also boost cooperation between the Thai government and local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in increasing exports of Thai farm products to New Zealand. Nantawan said New Zealand's senior executives will also be invited to attend 10 goods exhibitions to be organised in Thailand next year. According to the senior official,her department has targeted that bilateral trade between Thailand and New Zealand should double within 2020. Meanwhile, ML Bhuthong Thongyai, Director of Thailand's International Trade Promotion Office in Sydney, Australia, told TNA that two-way trade between New Zealand and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during June 2013 to July 2014 had increased to about 13.46 billion NZ dollars, equivalent to 13.4 per cent of New Zealand’s total trade. ML Bhuthong pointed out that goods exported by ASEAN member countries, including Thailand, to New Zealand accounted 16.7 per cent during the same period, most of which were petroleum products, animal feedstuff, plastic, rubber and seafood. (TNA)