Thailand and UK sign ambitious bilateral trade deal
Thai Deputy PM and Minister of Commerce, Jurin Laksanawisit, met UK Minister of State for Trade Policy, Penny Mordaunt, in London yesterday to explore ways of increasing bilateral trade and committing to an ambitious trading relationship.
The 2 politicians concluded business at the UK-Thailand Joint Economic and Trade Committee by signing a programme of work, including Government-to-Government and Government-to-Business activity, to advance opportunities to increase trade over the next 12-18 months.
The ministers also agreed to develop an Enhanced Trade Partnership in the future. This will launch a more ambitious programme of work to increase trade in multiple sectors by undertaking trade policy cooperation, tackling trade barriers, and promoting business and trade activity.
The ministers established a trade cooperation working group, to build on the work of the recently completed Joint Trade Review, by identifying and resolving barriers to trade and promoting policy and trade cooperation projects.
Jurin and Minister Mordaunt welcomed the partnership between the Thai-UK Business Leadership Council and the newly established Thai-UK Business Council as well as the business roundtable organised by the UK-ASEAN Business Council.
Both nations are committed to developing business in the digital sector and a Letter of Intent on Digital Cooperation was signed between the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and the Thai Ministry of Digital Economy and Society.
To advance agricultural trade relations, the ministers agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding, and highlighted the strong potential of the food and drink sector to contribute to bilateral trade between the two countries
Both ministers agreed to gain a better understanding of the rules and regulations of healthcare and expressed strong support for conducting Government-to-Business engagement to support trade in financial services.
The ministers welcomed the depth and breadth of the UK and Thailand’s trade relationship and committed to continuing trade and investment promotion activity in various sectors including Education, Infrastructure, and Energy.
In 2021, the value of trade between Thailand and the UK was £4.8 billion for goods and services. Thailand was the UK’s 40th largest trading partner in 2021 accounting for 0.4% of total UK trade. Thailand was also the 38th largest importer to the UK accounting for 0.4% of total UK imports and the 46th largest export market, accounting for 0.3% of UK exports.
The UK was Thailand’s 22nd largest trading partner in 2021 accounting for 1.0% of total Thai trade. The UK was the 25th largest importer to Thailand accounting for 0.8% of Thai imports and the 19th largest export market, accounting for 1.3% of Thai exports.
The new UK-Thailand Joint Economic and Trade Committee will be followed by the fourth UK-Thailand Strategic Dialogue on June 30.
SOURCE: GOV.UK
