BANGKOK, 9 April 2012 – Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom has disclosed that Thailand has requested that the South Korean government and its private sector raise the import value of Thai products and lift the ban on frozen chicken meat.
During his trip to South Korea, Mr. Boonsong met with the South Korean Trade Minister H.E. Mr. Bark Taeho in order to elevate mutual cooperation between the two economic partners at a bilateral as well as a regional and multilateral levels. On this occasion, both countries have set a target to revive the 13th Joint Trade Committee (JTC) in the middle of this year after a long hiatus of more than 9 years.
At the same time, Thailand has also requested that South Korea reconsider importing more fresh fruit from Thailand, in addition to the existing six kinds of fruit on its list. Moreover, the East Asian nation has also been urged to lift its ban on frozen Thai chicken meat as well as consider importing pork meat and pork products from Thailand.
The Commerce Minister added that he also had the chance to discuss with South Korea’s leading agro-products importers who asked Thailand to call for an elimination of obstacles to the import of Thai products in order to boost the value of the Thai products imported to the country, such as a reduction of import tax for fresh fruit and processed food, which currently stands at 45%. Thailand has also been encouraged to organize a promotional activity to promote Thai rice sales in South Korea.
