Afta lifting Thai-Asean trade sharplyTariff cuts under the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) since the beginning of this year have significantly raised Thai exports to Asean, with two-way trade expanding 52% in the first quarter, according to Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot.

He said the value of bilateral trade between Thailand and the other nine Asean members reached US$17.64 billion in the quarter. Thai exports to the region rose 67% year-on-year to $10.52 billion, with imports up 33.9% to $7.11 billion.

Leading exports included sugar, tapioca products, rice, finished oil, automobiles and parts, air-conditioners and  parts, electrical circuits and rubber.

Sugar led the growth, rising 340%, followed by tapioca products (272.2%), rice (191.3%), finished oil (114%) and automobiles and parts (106%).

Asean is now the largest export market for Thailand, making up 20% of the country's total exports, followed by Europe, Japan and the United States.

``More Thai exporters should apply for Afta tariff benefits, as statistics show only 20% worth of goods had applied for the tariff elimination scheme under Afta,'' said Mr Alongkorn.

The expanded Afta has eliminated tariffs on about 97% of all goods traded within the region.

In the Asean market, Malaysia was the biggest market for Thai exports, making up 23.6% of total shipments, followed by Singapore (19.9%), Indonesia (18.2%), and Vietnam (12.1%).

Asean is also the second largest market from which Thailand imports (16.8% of the total), behind Japan at 20.6%.

Imports are mainly capital goods, semi-finished goods and raw materials for production and re-export. Malaysia accounted for 37.5% of Thailand's imports, Singapore 20.9%, Indonesia 18.7% and Burma 8.2%.

Trade between Thailand and Asean was worth $51.59 billion last year, $29 billion of which represented Thai exports. Thailand's total trade was estimated at $280 billion with exports of $150 billion.

Source: Bangkok Post