Thailand is calling on Indonesia to remove import restrictions on Thai longan and air-conditioners and plans to hold the first meeting of the Joint Trade Committee (JTC) between Thailand and Indonesia in December to tackle trade obstacles.
Speaking after talks with Indonesia's ambassador to Thailand Rachmat Budiman, Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said Thai longan exports to Indonesia have seen some difficulties over the past 3-4 years as Indonesia has issued tighter measures, requiring Thai longan exporters to adopt Good Agricultural Practices standards and Thai orchards to be certified with sanitary and related standards.
The longan imports must also be approved by Indonesia's ministries of agriculture and trade.
For air-conditioner products, Indonesia in 2020 issued two special measures requiring exporters to apply for an import permit and go through the inspection of Indonesian authorities in Thailand before exporting products to Indonesia.
"In both issues, Thailand would like to discuss with Indonesia at the Joint Trade Committee meeting that Thailand has proposed to host an urgent meeting in December," said Mr Jurin, adding he will shortly send a letter to invite Indonesia's trade minister to attend the first meeting.
Thailand and Indonesia have agreed to the JTC since 2011 but have never held the JTC meeting.
According to Mr Jurin, he has also asked the Indonesian ambassador to notify related authorities to expedite importing 1 million tonnes of rice a year from Thailand under a memorandum of understanding (Mou) signed by the two countries in March.
The MoU covers no more than one million tonnes of 15% to 25% white rice a year for four years.
However, the rice sales also include conditions, depending on the rice production of the two countries and the global rice price.
Thailand sold a total of 925,000 tonnes of rice under G2G contracts to Indonesia under the previous agreement from 2012-16.
Over the past five years, no G2G rice deals between Thailand and Indonesia were carried out, as the Indonesian government initiated a self-sufficiency policy with regard to rice and promoted domestic rice production.
Nonetheless, Indonesia still faces a shortage of domestic rice supplies in some years due to natural disasters.
The pandemic also prompted Indonesia to import more rice to serve domestic demand and to stabilise domestic rice prices.
Last year, Thailand exported a total of 89,406 tonnes of rice to Indonesia, up 46.3% from the previous year, with a value totalling 2.262 billion baht, up 86.7%.
Meanwhile, according to Mr Jurin, the Indonesian ambassador also asked Thailand to help raise imports of fresh shrimp and investment in Indonesia, especially in the tourism sector.