Lockdown easing relieves the contraction of border trade and its value is likely to exceed 1 trillion baht this year, according to the Department of Foreign Trade.
Keerati Rushchano, director-general of the department, said the value of border trade including cargoes in transit in the first half of this year amounted to 627.48 billion baht, down by 9.18% from the same period last year.
The value consisted of exports worth 365.21 billion baht, down by 8.60%, and imports worth 262.27 billion baht, down by 9.98%. During the period, Thailand posted a border trade surplus of 102.93 billion baht.
Regarding border trade, Malaysia was the biggest trading partner with the trade value of 109.40 billion baht, down by 26.81%, followed by Laos with 92.28 billion baht (-7.09%), Myanmar 86.74 billion baht (-13.65%), and Cambodia 82.02 billion baht (+2.27%).
Regarding trade in transit cargoes, China was the biggest trading partner with the trade value of 109.89 billion baht in the first half of 2020, up by 16%, followed by Singapore with 41.69 billion baht (+13.70%) and Vietnam with 29.90 billion baht (-23.89%).
Mr Keerati said that the value of border trade was improving over the past two months after the government had eased its business lockdown measures.
He expected the border trade value throughout this year to still exceed 1 trillion baht. Earlier his department had forecasted the value at 1.5 trillion baht. (TNA)
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