Somkid: Thais must take part in trade pacts

Exclusion risks losing ground to Vietnam

Thailand must join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for TransPacific Partnership (CPTPP), a newly formed bloc of 11 Pacific Rim nations without the US, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) as a means to protect the country’s trade interests, says Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak.

If Thailand does not take part in the CPTPP, the country will lose trade and investment opportunities, Mr Somkid said, adding that Vietnam is a bloc member poised to reap the benefits.

The Commerce Ministry is conducting a study of what Thailand will gain and lose under the trade deal, he said.

Eleven Pacific Rim countries recently signed the CPTPP, which was revised after the US withdrew from the previous TPP agreement in January 2017.

The countries are Singapore, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru and Vietnam.

Commerce Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong earlier this month said the government would call a joint meeting with all stakeholders before determining Thailand’s stance towards the CPTPP.

The RCEP was launched in November 2012 with the aim of establishing deeper economic cooperation among the 10 Asean members (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) and the six dialogue partners of Asean Plus Six (China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India and New Zealand).

The member countries represent 29% of global trade and have a combined population of 3.35 billion.

The Thailand Development Research Institute earlier estimated that joining the RCEP would boost Thailand’s GDP growth by 4.03 percentage points, while local vegetables, processed fruits and food, and electronics appliances would benefit from the deal.

Meanwhile, Mr Somkid has told state enterprises that have no plan to invest in big data or develop an Internet of Things strategy to set a budget for such investment this fiscal year.

Without these technologies, state enterprises cannot beef up their competitive edge, he said.

Mr Somkid said he does not want the state enterprises to speed up taking out budget in the final quarter of the fiscal year as done in the past, but instead do so in the second and third quarters.

He asked cash-cow state enterprises like Airports of Thailand Plc to propose new investment projects, while PTT should earmark investment budget for the domestic market.