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21 May 2007: Bangkok Trade Negotiations Department director-general Chutima Bunyaprapasara said Thailand would wait no longer for a result from trade talks under the ASEAN-India Free Trade Area framework, which comprised several rounds over more than four years,still without a conclusion. Although the ASEAN-India talks will have a final round next month, Mrs. Chutima said, the negotiations will have no conclusion, leading to an abrupt end of the ASEAN-India FTA negotiation. Because of this, Thailand and India will have the opportunity to renegotiate their own FTA framework as both countries had already agreed to reduce tariffs for 82 items. She said the negotiation teams of both countries are scheduled to meet in the resort province of Phuket late this month to discuss in detail the entry of more than 5,500 products on a list of goods whose tariffs are set to be reduced to zero under the Thailand-India FTA. Last year, Thailand and India had mutual trade value of around US$3.4 billion, of which $1.8 billion is the export value and $1.6 billion is the import value. It resulted in a trade surplus of $200 million. It is expected that the trade between the two countries would increase this year. The trade negotiations department chief said she believed the two countries' trade would rise further if both countries agree one tariff reduction to zero in thousands of production items. Thailand's key exports to India include plastic pellets, radios, TVs and parts, steel and iron products, and automobile accessories, while the kingdom imports diamonds and jewelry, silver ingots, gold, ore, metal, and chemical products. Thailand and India signed a free trade agreement in 2003 under which the import tariffs for 82 products reduced, beginning in September 2004.
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