Thailand’s 30th prime minister, Srettha Thavisin said last week that one of the main agendas for his government is to transform Thailand into a major foreign investment destination.
In accordance with the plan, the country will work on expanding free trade agreements with other nations.
He said, “Thailand is open for business with all countries,” citing Reuters.
“We will give importance to negotiating more FTA, we are losing to Vietnam not because of the wage issue, but because we have fewer FTAs.”
However, director-general of the Department of Trade Negotiations, Auramon Supthaweethum, recently reported that after six rounds of negotiations between Thailand with the European Free trade Association (EFTA), the deal has not yet been finalized.
According to Thai PBS World, she said it is expected to be completed in the middle of next year. Thailand’s FTAs with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Sri Lanka, on the other hand, seems to be the first deals to be concluded.
Auramon added that the FTA with UAE will possibly be finalized before the end of this year, while with Sri Lanka will be completed next year as well.
Sources:
