Thailand looks set to sign a strategic partnership deal with Sri Lanka, hoping to raise bilateral trade value to US$1.5 billion (49.2 billion baht) in 2020.
Auramon Supthaweethum, director-general of the Trade Negotiations Department, said the deal could possibly be signed in July or in the months to follow after the cabinet gives the nod to the strategic partnership framework soon to be proposed by the Commerce Ministry.
“Sri Lanka is a potential country for Thailand to have economic cooperation with, notably in sectors like infrastructure, agriculture, fisheries, jewellery, tourism, finance and information technology,” Mrs Auramon said. “The bilateral strategic partnership deal will help expedite trade and investment between the two countries, as the free trade agreement (FTA) talks generally take a long time.”
According to Mrs Auramon, the cabinet has already approved the negotiation framework for the FTA talks with Sri Lanka. These will cover trade in goods, services, investment and comprehensive economic cooperation.
The two parties have set a target to officially announce the FTA talks and open the first round some time this year.
Mrs Auramon, said Sri Lanka is a developing country that boasts supporting factors for trade and investment. Over the past five years, Sri Lanka’s economic expansion averaged 6% annually.
More importantly, Sri Lanka has an open policy for foreign investment.
Mrs Auramon said Sri Lanka is looking for investment and joint venture opportunities with foreign partners in several sectors, including hotel management, tourism-related businesses, hospitals, pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and jewellery design.
Sri Lanka is also interested in importing more food, household appliances, furniture and home furnishings.
Sri Lanka and Thailand first began considering an FTA in 2016, when Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak made an official visit to the island nation.
The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on technical cooperation, a letter of intent on cooperation in small and medium-sized enterprise development, and a joint programme on tourism for 2016-18.
On Feb 17 of last year, Mr Somkid, who met Malik Samarawickrama, Sri Lanka’s development strategies and international trade minister, said the two countries aimed to sign an FTA to triple bilateral trade to $1.5 billion over the next five years.
During 2013-17, two-way trade between Thailand and Sri Lanka averaged $491 million a year. Last year, bilateral trade totalled $513 million, up 8.7% from 2016.
In a separate development, Deputy Commerce Minister Chutima Bunyapraphasara said yesterday that Thailand was ready to host and chair the Asean meeting in 2019.
As the host and chair, Thailand plans to propose trade facilitation such as the Asean Single Window and put progress of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership on the agenda.
The meeting will also address challenges such as micro SME development and innovation to drive Asean as part of the global supply chain, plus the Asean Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2025, which aims to turn Asean into a highly integrated and cohesive economic bloc and a competitive, innovative and dynamic region.