TRADE / AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS : South Korean-Thai negotiations to resume

TRADE / AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS : South Korean-Thai negotiations to resume.

ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT

Cebu, Philippines - South Korean and Thai economic ministers agreed yesterday to resume controversial talks on rice and other agricultural products which prevented Thailand from joining the Asean-Korea free trade agreement last year.

Commerce Minister Krirk-krai Jirapaet said he had held brief but candid talks with the Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong to move forward from the sticking point that had led to Thailand holding back from entering the region-wide economic agreement.

''Both sides have openly discussed what we can and cannot accept. Rice is a sensitive item for South Korea, but also a significant farm product. We agreed to have the director-general of the Foreign Trade Department tackle the issue so that we can move forward with negotiations over trade in services and investment,'' Mr Krirk-krai said at the sidelines of the 12th Asean summit yesterday.

Thailand did not join other Asean members in signing the agreement last year since the pact was considered to yield little benefit to rice farmers. Other products including shrimp, chicken, and canned fruit, which are major export items to Korea, would also enjoy few benefits from Seoul's pledged tariff cuts.

Thailand wants Korea to consider increasing its retail rice trade quota to 30,000 tonnes, as agreed originally at a World Trade Organisation meeting, and to allow Thai rice to enter the Korean market.

Korea is Thailand's eighth-largest trade partner, with bilateral trade value between the two countries totalling nearly US$7 billion.

Mr Krirk-krai did not elaborate on how soon the Thai and Korean officials would dismantle the obstacles and reach a compromise.

Talks on services had made some progress, but in the area of investment, espedhcially on the threshold issue, few developments had been made, sources said.

The 10-member Asean has rapidly moved forward with FTA negotiations with China, which started in November 2001, having reached a framework agreement within one year and instigated an early harvest programme covering trade in goods in July 2005.

The Asean-China FTA, a zero-tariff market of 1.7 billion people, has been targeted to come into force in 2010 for the six original Asean members _ Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Brunei _ and in 2015 for the other four _ Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

Thailand still has a deficit of nearly two billion baht in trade with China under the Asean-China FTA.

Asean talks with Japan have moved slowly as Tokyo is also pursuing bilateral trade pacts with all Asean members.

''Asean and Tokyo have to work out how both sides can strike an Economic Comprehensive Partnership. This means: will the ECP be based on the progressive bilateral pacts with some Asean countries or the ongoing talks with less developed Asean members?'' a source said.

Asean trade talks with India have gone nowhere, but the regional grouping does plan to kick-start negotiations with the European Union within this year.

Bangkok Post
Friday January 12, 2007