Thailand 4.0 policy to help handle regional non-tariff barriers

BANGKOK, April 5 (TNA) - The government's Thailand 4.0 policy is foreseen to help local business operators handle with remaining non-tariff barriers imposed by other member countries in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). Speaking at a seminar on "Uplift CLMV Experience : Opening the Door to CLMV Towards More ASEAN Free Trade World", organized in Bangkok on April 4 by the Ministry of Commerce's Department of Trade Negotiations and the Board of Trade of Thailand (BTT), Vitat Vajropala, Director of the Bureau of Trade Capacity Enhancement, under the Department of Trade Negotiations, noted that tariff barriers among ASEAN member countries have been eliminated since the formation of the AEC at the end of 2015, but non-tariff barriers have increased. Vitat suggested that Thai business operators, thus, develop more innovative products in line with the government's Thailand 4.0 policy to enhance their competitiveness to cope with the new regional trade practice. Generally, Vitat said, Thailand has maintained trade surplus with neighboring Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam, known as the CLMV group, so far, excluding its gas trade with Myanmar. According to the senior official, Thai business operators should expand their investment in such service businesses as hotels and tour agents, as well as in financial and capital markets in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar, where they apparently remain to have considerably comparative advantages over their counterparts. Besides, Thai manufacturers in the CLMV group will enjoy the generalized system of preference (GSP) granted by developed countries, which have already ended such the trade privilege for Thailand, apart from enjoying cheaper labor costs in the neighboring countries. The senior official cautioned, however, that Thai business operators should carefully study legal trade rules and regulations, as well as potential business areas with utility services in the neighboring countries to facilitate their businesses in the long term. (TNA)