Negotiations resumed with Thailand to reach a FTA
FIS, Canada
Negotiations resumed with Thailand to reach a FTA
By Silvina Corniola
21 March 2012
The Fourth Round of Negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Chile and Thailand seeks to promote a productive exchange between the economies of both countries, starting with tariff reductions and the reduction of technical barriers to trade.
The trade negotiation process with Thailand started in April 2011 and is part of the Chilean strategy for its business and economic openness towards the countries of Asia and particularly, towards those members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
The bilateral director of the Directorate of International Economic Relations (Direcon), Rodrigo Contreras, who heads the Chilean delegation, said that Thailand "is a dynamic economy of nearly 70 million people" and is a member of ASEAN, a group of countries from the emerging Asia with which Chile seeks to strengthen trade ties.
Contreras added that there are existing trade agreements with Singapore and Brunei, "with Malaysia and Vietnam there are two FTAs, which are about to come into force, with Indonesia there is a completed joint study and now with Thailand they have this negotiation agreement."
According to the head of Direcon with this agreement, the export sectors that would benefit are those exporting seafood, fresh fruits, paper, cardboard, pulp and animal feed.
Meanwhile Thailand’s interest lies in promoting their vehicles, engines, prepared vegetables, fruit, certain categories of textiles, clothing and machinery.
The Chilean delegation, which was also joined by the director general of the Department of Trade Negotiations of the Ministry of Commerce of Thailand, Srirat Rastapana, expects the negotiations offer successful results throughout this year.
