Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is on his first official visit to Europe (including Germany and France) with a packed agenda to bolster European investors’ confidence in increasing trade and investment in Thailand, step up efforts to conclude the Thailand-European Union (EU) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and pursue negotiations on visa exemption for Thai citizens.
Thai Government Spokesperson Chai Wacharonke said that during his first official visit to Europe, Prime Minister Srettha is expected to discuss with German and French authorities on sustainable economic development, clean energy and addressing environmental challenges, and stressed the importance of enhancing relations with Germany and France so that they can become Thailand's strategic partners.
During his week-long visit (March 7-14), Prime Minister Srettha will also meet with business leaders in the aviation, automobile, auto parts, tourism, fashion and retail sectors. He will also attend the world's largest tourism trade fair ITB Berlin 2024 in Germany and the MIPIM 2024 Global Conference on Infrastructure and Real Estate in Cannes, France, and deliver a speech at the annual reception of the German Association of Small and Medium Enterprises. Thailand hopes to sign an FTA with the EU next year, with the third round of negotiations set to take place in June this year.
According to data from the Trade Negotiations Department of the Thai Ministry of Commerce, the EU is Thailand's fourth-largest trading partner with bilateral trade reaching $34.8 billion in the first 10 months of 2023. The two sides first launched FTA negotiations in 2013, but the process stalled after the 2014 coup in Thailand.
In 2017 and 2019, the European Council adopted a gradual re-engagement approach, culminating in the conclusion of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement in December 2022. On trade, the European Council conclusions of 2017 and 2019 called on the European Commission to assess the possibility of resuming FTA negotiations with Thailand and stressed the importance of taking steps in that direction.
VIET LE
Source
Comment (0)