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Srettha Thavisin acts as a roving economic representative on state visits to France and Germany this week.
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and French President Emmanuel Macron attend a joint press conference following their assembly at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, March 12, 2024.
Thailand expects to conclude negotiations on a flexible industrial agreement (FTA) with the European Union by the end of next year, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said during a state stop in France.
In a statement issued after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, the Thai leader said the Thailand-EU FTA was on track to be finalized within 18 months.
Negotiations between the two sides resumed in December, after a nearly decade-long stalemate. The EU halted negotiations in reaction to the May 2014 military coup that ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The third negotiating circular is expected to take a position in June. .
The completion of the FTA negotiations, which began in 2013, would expand the fruitful economic relations between the two countries. According to government data cited by Reuters, Thailand exported $21. 8 billion worth of goods to the EU last year, including cars, computers and jewelry. and electrical circuits, making the European Union its fourth largest trading partner. Thailand’s largest exports to the EU include machinery, electronic equipment, and pharmaceuticals.
Srettha was in France as part of a global excursion that took him to travel to Australia for last week’s special ASEAN-Australia summit, and also saw him arrive in Germany yesterday. In keeping with his role as a salesman for Thailand’s economy, Srettha’s schedule for his two-week vacation was mainly focused on investment and industry. Government spokesman Chai Wacharonke said Srettha’s stopover in Germany and France was aimed at boosting investor confidence in expanding the industry and investing with Thailand.
According to his statement, since his arrival in France on March 9, Srettha has “met with the leaders of more than 20 of the largest French corporations in the automotive, aviation, blank energy, fashion, sports, hospitality and tourism sectors, to explore business opportunities. “between the two countries,” according to The Nation’s paraphrase. Srettha also held talks with Formula 1 executives and said they had expressed interest in Thailand as a possible venue for a Formula 1 racing event.
In his statement, Srettha said Macron had agreed to help Thailand in his government’s plan to seek a visa-waiver agreement with European countries in the EU’s Schengen area. He said the application would be reviewed after June and finalized by the end of the year. Macron will also make some other stops in Thailand next year.
The FTA negotiations and the planned visa waiver agreement are part of Srettha’s efforts to revive Thailand’s economy, which has yet to fully emerge from the slump of the COVID-19 pandemic. It plans to address this with various economic stimulus packages, adding the “digital” “wallet” project.
Last week, Srettha announced that the government aims to attract about 40 million foreign travelers this year, roughly the same number of travelers who visited the country in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic. This target includes more than 8. 5 million travelers from Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Like the economy as a whole, tourist arrivals are far from returning to pre-COVID-19 levels. To attract more visitors, the Srettha government has temporarily waived visas for tourists from China, Kazakhstan, Russia, India and Taiwan. In January, it made this agreement permanent for Chinese visitors, with reciprocal visa waiver to China for Thai nationals. Last year, around 28 million people visited Thailand.
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Thailand expects to conclude negotiations on a flexible industrial agreement (FTA) with the European Union by the end of next year, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said during a state stop in France.
In a statement issued after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, the Thai leader said the Thailand-EU FTA was on track to be finalized within 18 months.
Negotiations between the two sides resumed in December, after a nearly decade-long stalemate. The EU halted negotiations in reaction to the May 2014 military coup that ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The third negotiating circular is expected to take a position in June. .
The completion of the FTA negotiations, which began in 2013, would expand the fruitful economic relations between the two countries. According to government data cited by Reuters, Thailand exported $21. 8 billion worth of goods to the EU last year, including cars, computers and jewelry. and electrical circuits, making the European Union its fourth largest trading partner. Thailand’s largest exports to the EU include machinery, electronic equipment, and pharmaceuticals.
Srettha was in France as part of a global excursion that took him to travel to Australia for last week’s special ASEAN-Australia summit, and also saw him arrive in Germany yesterday. In keeping with his role as a salesman for Thailand’s economy, Srettha’s schedule for his two-week vacation was mainly focused on investment and industry. Government spokesman Chai Wacharonke said Srettha’s stopover in Germany and France was aimed at boosting investor confidence in expanding the industry and investing with Thailand.
According to his statement, since his arrival in France on March 9, Srettha has “met with the leaders of more than 20 of the largest French corporations in the automotive, aviation, blank energy, fashion, sports, hospitality and tourism sectors, to explore business opportunities. “between the two countries,” according to The Nation’s paraphrase. Srettha also held talks with Formula 1 executives and said they had expressed interest in Thailand as a possible venue for a Formula 1 racing event.
In his statement, Srettha said Macron had agreed to help Thailand in his government’s plan to seek a visa-waiver agreement with European countries in the EU’s Schengen area. He said the application would be reviewed after June and finalized by the end of the year. Macron will also make some other stops in Thailand next year.
The FTA negotiations and the planned visa waiver agreement are part of Srettha’s efforts to revive Thailand’s economy, which has yet to fully emerge from the slump of the COVID-19 pandemic. It plans to address this with various economic stimulus packages, adding the “digital” “wallet” project.
Last week, Srettha announced that the government aims to attract about 40 million foreign travelers this year, roughly the same number of travelers who visited the country in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic. This target includes more than 8. 5 million travelers from Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Like the economy as a whole, tourist arrivals are far from returning to pre-COVID-19 levels. To attract more visitors, the Srettha government has temporarily waived visas for tourists from China, Kazakhstan, Russia, India and Taiwan. In January, it made this agreement permanent for Chinese visitors, with reciprocal visa waiver to China for Thai nationals. Last year, around 28 million people visited Thailand.
Thailand expects to conclude negotiations on a flexible industrial agreement (FTA) with the European Union by the end of next year, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said during a state stop in France.
In a statement issued after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, the Thai leader said the Thailand-EU FTA was on track to be finalized within 18 months.
Sebastian Strangio is Southeast Asia Editor at The Diplomat.