The Commerce Ministry is targeting 2 trillion baht in cross-border trade by 2027, following a 10.4% increase in exports via the Sadao checkpoint in the first half of this year.
Jittima Srithaporn, deputy director-general of the Foreign Trade department, said that to achieve this target, the Commerce Ministry is committed to expediting cross-border and transit trade under the government's investment promotion strategy for 2024-27.
A delegation of senior officials from the Foreign Trade Department visited the Sadao and Padang Besar customs checkpoints last week to monitor the situation concerning border trade with Malaysia.
Songkhla, one of the country's 10 special economic zones, is an important production base for the processed rubber, seafood and electronics sectors.
With infrastructure linking all regions of the country, the province serves as a gateway to distribute wealth and add value to Thai products and tourism.
Songkhla is also an important business hub in Thailand, where economic activities with Indonesia and Malaysia, a nearby and bordering state, respectively, have developed due to numerous projects and special collaborations such as the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle Economic Cooperation Project.
Ms Jittima was informed during the visit that the value of border trade at the Sadao and Padang Besar customs checkpoints reached 569 billion baht last year.
The department also monitored the progress of the establishment of one-stop service (OSS) centres which serve to facilitate and stimulate cross-border and transit trade.
The department completed the establishment of OSS centres in eight pilot provinces with a high level of border trade in terms of value, comprising 10 locations including Chiang Rai, Tak, Nong Khai, Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan, Trat, Udon Thani and Songkhla, which covers the Sadao and Padang Besar customs checkpoint.
In the first half of 2024, cross-border trade between Thailand and Malaysia amounted to 297 billion baht, up 1.25% year-on year. Exports accounted for 172 billion baht (+8.89%) and imports 125 billion baht (-9.31%), resulting in a trade surplus of 47 billion baht.
Cross-border and transit trade via the Sadao customs checkpoint tallied 214 billion baht in the first half, down 3.51% year-on-year. Exports accounted for 113 billion baht (+10.4%) and imports 102 billion baht (-15.3%), resulting in a trade surplus of 11 billion baht.
Key exports include concentrated latex, computers and parts, electrical circuit boards, hard disk drives, processed wood, electrical switchboards and control panels, plywood, rubber gloves, technically specified rubber and other rubber products.
Cross-border and transit trade via Padang Besar customs checkpoints tallied 79 billion baht in the first half, up 14.7% year-on-year. Exports accounted for 56 billion baht (+7.21%) and imports 23 billion baht (+39%), resulting in a trade surplus of 33 billion baht.
Key exports include technically specified rubber, processed wood, smoked rubber sheets (grade 3), concentrated latex, other rubber products, cars and car parts, electronic circuit boards, hard disk drives, and filtering and purifying machinery for liquids or gases.