MONTANA, May 22 — Thailand is expected to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with Peru which is likely to become effective late this year and the kingdom will sign a similar agreement with Chile which would be completed around mid-2012, a senior Thai commerce ministry official said today.
Srirat Rastapana, director-general of Commerce Ministry’s Trade Negotiations Department, said she had held talks with Peruvian officials on the progress of an FTA between Thailand and Peru and was informed that Peru still has to wait for a new parliament to be formed.
Thailand will organise a general election on July 3 and the commerce ministry will seek an approval on the FTA between the two countries after the lower house is formed and meets, Mrs Srirat said. If approved, the agreement could become enforced later this year in which nearly 6,000 goods items are covered and Thailand will benefit from increased exports of electrical appliances, pick-up trucks, plastic resins and rubber, while Peru will gain from exports of shrimp, cod fish and insecticides.
The talks were held on the sidelines of the 17th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) meeting held in the state of Montana in the United States between May 19-20.
The Trade Negotiations Department is also moving to sign a similar agreement with Chile and it believes that the agreement would be ready by mid-2012. The move comes after major Thai petrochemical industry players wanted the country to sign an FTA with Chile after several countries such as the US, South Korea and China have already signed agreements with that nation.
Mrs Srirat said both Peru and Chile are considered important gateways to Latin America and Thailand would benefit from signing FTAs with the two countries, as it could further export to the two nations’ neighbours, such as Argentina and Bolivia. (MCOT online news)
