Post by account_disabled on Jan 1, 2024 5:54:04 GMT
Continuing from the first article which introduced the background of hope for reviving negotiations on the Thai-European Union (EU) Free Trade Agreement that has been stalled for more than 6 years, and also presented the benefits that Thailand will receive from the agreement. Thailand-EU FTA is in this final article. We will learn about various interesting issues that may affect the direction of reviving FTA negotiations with Thailand. The EU is currently Thailand's third most important trading partner, with two-way trade worth US$47 billion in 2018. Accounting for 9.4 percent of Thai trade with the world. Of which Thailand exports 25 billion USD to the EU. and imports from the EU amounted to 22 billion USD, an increase of 5% and 8% from 2017, respectively.
In terms of investment, the C Level Executive List EU is Thailand's third-largest investor after Japan and ASEAN. The value of investment in Thailand at the end of 2018 totaled 35 billion US dollars. (Information from the Ministry of Commerce and the Bank of Thailand) However, negotiating the Thai-EU FTA agreement may not be easy and may take time. Interesting issues regarding the Thai-EU FTA negotiations are as follows: 1. Making an FTA agreement with the EU will create a new standard in Thailand's free trade agreements. Especially the issue of liberalization of the service sector. and government procurement. It should be noted that the new provisions that the EU has recently used in negotiating FTA agreements with other countries are the provisions on trade and sustainable development (Trade and Sustainable Development), which It is related to environmental standards and labor standards.
It is expected that the EU will use the FTA agreements with Singapore and Vietnam that were just signed in October 2018 and June 2019, respectively, as a model for negotiations with Thailand. From observing the FTA negotiations between the EU and Vietnam and Singapore It was found that the content of the negotiations was more detailed and comprehensive. This makes negotiations take up more time and resources. It may also increase pressure on Thailand to accept various demands from the EU, including opening the market for medicines, automobiles, and alcoholic beverages. and raising the standards of Thai products to be in line with EU standards that are one of the most stringent in the world.
In terms of investment, the C Level Executive List EU is Thailand's third-largest investor after Japan and ASEAN. The value of investment in Thailand at the end of 2018 totaled 35 billion US dollars. (Information from the Ministry of Commerce and the Bank of Thailand) However, negotiating the Thai-EU FTA agreement may not be easy and may take time. Interesting issues regarding the Thai-EU FTA negotiations are as follows: 1. Making an FTA agreement with the EU will create a new standard in Thailand's free trade agreements. Especially the issue of liberalization of the service sector. and government procurement. It should be noted that the new provisions that the EU has recently used in negotiating FTA agreements with other countries are the provisions on trade and sustainable development (Trade and Sustainable Development), which It is related to environmental standards and labor standards.
It is expected that the EU will use the FTA agreements with Singapore and Vietnam that were just signed in October 2018 and June 2019, respectively, as a model for negotiations with Thailand. From observing the FTA negotiations between the EU and Vietnam and Singapore It was found that the content of the negotiations was more detailed and comprehensive. This makes negotiations take up more time and resources. It may also increase pressure on Thailand to accept various demands from the EU, including opening the market for medicines, automobiles, and alcoholic beverages. and raising the standards of Thai products to be in line with EU standards that are one of the most stringent in the world.
