Somkid: US trip necessary
Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak yesterday defended his decision to lead a large trade delegation to the United States later this week, saying the trip was not intended to negotiate a trade agreement, but to enhance economic ties.
"Bilateral trade talks are not the purpose of this trip. Rather, we will go to tell [US counterparts] that Thailand and the US still have to nourish our long-standing relationship, especially in trade and investment, including technological cooperation and other [areas]."Somkid has been criticised for his decision to lead the delegation on behalf of a caretaker government that lacks the authority to negotiate trade policy. "Free-trade talks may be stalled but [trade] relations have to proceed. The FTA [free-trade agreement] is about negotiations on tariffs. We have to be optimistic so the stalemate doesn't disrupt overall [trade] relations," Somkid said. The delegation of public- and private-sector representatives will visit the US from Saturday till the following Friday. Somkid said he planned to ask the US to abolish the continuos bond collection, or bank guarantees, for shrimp exports, which place an additional financial burden on shrimp exporters. He said the current political turmoil should not affect foreign investment because investors take a long-term rather than short-term view. "How can politics go on like this forever? We will tell them that nothing has changed," Somkid said, adding that the trip would reassure US business leaders that relations with Thailand remained solid. Somkid also intends to meet with US trade and investment policy-makers, including the commerce secretary, US trade representative and the House of Representative's Committee on Trade and Industry.
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