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Indo-Thailand FTA to boost bilateral trade

Agencies - New Delhi

Upbeat about the prospects of the proposed Indo-Thailand free trade agreement (FTA), the Thai deputy prime minister Dr Korn Dabbransi said it will give a big boost to bilateral trade which is expected to touch US$ 2 billion by the end of next year.

“The signing of FTA will clearly benefit both nations, as it will facilitate the flow of bilateral trade and investment,” Dr Dabbransi said at a FICCI meeting here. Efforts to establish FTA were “on track”, Dr Dabbransi said and hoped it would be finalised in October. The prime minister Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee is expected to visit Thailand in October to sign the agreement.

He said once the agreement is signed, under the early harvest programme, both countries would immediately bring down tariffs on more than 80 items and further reduce tariffs on them to zero by 2010. Asking Indian businessmen to invest in Thailand, he said with the implementation of ASEAN free trade area, they could reach a unified market of 520 million people. However, he said Bangkok was keen on foreign investment which could help the country move up the development ladder. “In terms of investment, we are focussing on attracting not just investment, but the right kind of investment... That is, investment that brings not only capital but also technical know-how and technology transfer,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, the commerce and industry minister Mr Arun Jaitley said the conclusion of the FTA would be a very significant step not just for bilateral relations but also for the ASEAN region as a whole.

Dr Dabbransi said Thailand had earlier signed an agreement with China and was planning to sign similar ones with ASEAN countries, which would greatly benefit India as his country could act as gateway to these countries.