TDRI: FTAs would boost local economy
The proposed free-trade agreement (FTA) between Thailand and the US would probably promote the competitiveness of the Thai textile and leather industries, research by the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) indicates.
Research director Somkiat Tangkitvanich said the FTA would most likely prompt Thai industries that are losing their competitive edge to China to upgrade production and turn out better-quality products for the US market. But he noted that it was up to Thai producers to achieve a higher level of competitiveness and benefit from the opportunities afforded by an FTA. The proposed agreement has been stalled since the sixth round of talks in January, due to local protests and the current political vacuum in Thailand. Meanwhile, the Thai News Agency reported that a top executive in the textile and garment industry suggested the new government rush ahead with the planned Thai-Japanese FTA before Thailand lost markets to its trade rivals. Tienchai Mahasiri, an adviser to the Textile and Garment Industry Club of the Federation of Thai Industries, said on Sunday that Japan was paying more attention to textile and garment imports from Thailand, because Tokyo did not want to rely solely on China for such goods. Currently, China controls 90 per cent of the market for textiles and garments in Japan. He said Japan was confident of Thai production quality and had already invested a lot of money in the Kingdom. Japan is only awaiting adoption of the FTA to increase imports from Thailand. Tienchai said the Thai private sector wanted the agreement implemented soon, because it would encourage trade partners and importers to buy more Thai products. "The Thai-Japanese free-trade agreement will not only help increase product sales, but also result in an investment-base shift from Japan to Thailand and a technology transfer," he said. "The new government, no matter which party it comes from, should follow up on the matter." Tienchai said there was a misunderstanding that Thailand would lose its advantage from the FTA with Japan. He said the planned FTA would actually provide the Kingdom with more trade and investment opportunities. But he said how much Thailand actually benefited depended on the negotiating skills of the working committee concerned.
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