Bilateral trade between Thailand and India is expected to double within the next two years from US$8 billion last year as trading volume will be boosted by the implementation of a comprehensive free trade programme by mid-2012.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra leads government and business representatives for a state visit to India from today to Thursday.
Thailand and India agreed to 82 early-harvested items to be included in a bilateral free trade agreement from September 2004, with tariffs cut to zero three years later. The two nations expect to conclude negotiations soon to be able to reduce tariffs on 1,000 items.
Two-way trade in 2011 was $8.19 billion, up 34.23%, with Thailand gaining a trade surplus of $2.16 billion from exports of $5.18 billion, up 36.29% year-on-year, and imports of $3.01 billion, up by 30.39%.
India also has a free-trade agreement with Asean, in which about 70% of traded goods will have no tariff by 2013. It became effective in January 2010. Asean-India trade totalled $51.35 billion last year, with an Asean surplus of $5.17 billion. Total trade is expected to reach $70 billion this year.
Thitima Chaisaeng, the government's spokeswoman, said the premier aimed to enhance the collaboration between the two nations through regional cooperation including under the BIMSTEC initiative, which also includes Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan, to work on the construction of an East-West corridor highway from India to Thailand via Myanmar.
The Board of Investment (BoI) invited potential Thai investors from tourism, construction and retail industries on the trip.
Thai investments in India from 2000-11 totalled $81.77 billion, while Indian investments through the BoI in 2010 tallied $58 billion from 13 projects.
Ms Thitima added Thailand wants to increase flights between Bangkok and Indian cities from 230 per week.
In 2010, 791,185 Indians visited Thailand while 89,067 Thais visited India.
Srirat Rastapana, director-general of the Trade Negotiations Department, said Ms Yingluck will witness the signing of the second protocol of the bilateral free trade agreement that allows entrepreneurs to buy products in a third country while still enjoying the tariff reduction.
Source : bangkokpost.com