Thailand’s regional trade expands 9.49% in January
THAILAND’S total trade with neighbouring countries, including cross-border trade in January came in at 141.07 billion baht ($4.2 billion), up 9.49 per cent year-on-year, the commerce ministry reported on March 14.
However, commerce minister Jurin Laksanawisit said he has asked the agriculture and foreign ministries to follow up on fruit exports to China.
He said China is a large market for Thai fruits, but its zeroCovid policy is far too strict, especially in terms of land transportation.
“Apart from implementing strict measures before closing containers, we have also asked for a special route to be set up to move Thai fruits to China. The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry will be responsible for this issue,” he said.
“The commerce ministry, meanwhile, will implement proactive measures to manage fruit supply this year.”
Jurin added that his ministry will accelerate the reopening of borders and will negotiate new routes for trade.
“The China-Laos railway will serve as another route for Thai exports in the future,” he said.
Malaysia accounted for the lion’s share of Thailand’s total trade with neighbouring countries in January at 30.54 billion baht, up 14.26 per cent year-onyear, followed by Laos (23.45 billion baht, up 39.86 per cent).
It was followed by Myanmar (18.60 billion baht, up 36.26 per cent), Cambodia (17.76 billion baht, up 17.94 per cent), China (16.98 billion baht, down 24.34 per cent), Singapore (10.27 billion baht, up 26.05 per cent) and Vietnam (8.06 billion baht, up 36.19 per cent).