Thailand and Malaysia have agreed to foster cooperation on trade and investment in six sectors. After a meeting with Malaysian Ambassador to Thailand Nazirah Hussain, Commerce Minister Niwatthumrong Boonsongpaisan said the two countries would promote more cross-border trade as it was a major trading channel. To that end, the two governments will streamline customs procedures and facilitate logistics growth on both sides. Value of cross-border trade between Thailand and Malaysia accounted for US$16.5 billion (Bt500 billion) out of the total $26.5-billion seen last year. Niwatthumrong, who is also a deputy prime minister, said trade could grow strongly under the Kingdoms plan to draw Malaysian investors to do business here. The six sectors where Thailand will urge Malaysian investors to conduct more border trade are oil and gas, energy, rubber, automobiles, sugar and rice, and tourism. He said the investment-promotion plan would focus on border provinces in the Southern region. Sectors that investors are interested in include halal food production and rubber. To tighten cooperation between the two countries, Thailand is scheduled to host the second Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting in Chiang Mai in mid-November. According to the Commerce Ministry, Malaysia is Thailands largest trading partner in Asean, and the fourth-largest overall. Bilateral trade has grown by an average of 10.54 per cent annually during the past five years. Last year, two-way trade was worth $26.5 billion. In the first half of this year, trade was up 1.59 per cent to $13.04 billion. Thailand locked in a trade deficit of $294.23 million.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 14:04:43 +0000
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