British Ambassador HE Mark Kent with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
Britain's ambassador to Thailand, HE Mark Kent, sees great potential in the proposed Thai-European Free Trade Area
Mark Kent, the UK's ambassador to Thailand, is a strong advocate of the ongoing Thai-European Union Free Trade Area (TEUFTA) negotiations. The envoy suggests that consumers, in the end, will benefit from freer trade in goods and services, as well as from increased flow of investment.
"Regarding the issue of pharmaceutical patents [which Thailand's non-government organisations have cited as a negative point in the FTA effort, since the country's low-income earners will suffer due to higher prices of drugs], I think there will be a fair conclusion. Chicken and fruit exports from Thailand are the other issues.
"We should work together to promote trade and investment between Thailand and the EU. It's understandable that Thailand's trade with other Asean countries and China has risen rapidly in the past years. China is now a global superpower while Thailand itself is the second-largest economy in Asean.
'Regarding the euro-zone crisis, the economic situation is clearly not good at this juncture, but the region remains a very big market and we hope to get past this crisis. However, the timeline is not clear at this stage.
"In the UK [which is a member of the European Union but not a member of the single currency system], our economic growth rate is now very low - just 0.1-0.2 per cent - so we have to boost our exports. Thailand is one of our key export markets in Asean, with shipments up 38 per cent last year as the Thai economy is relatively strong, growing at an annual rate of 5-6 per cent.
"UK and European firms have to boost their trade and investment ties with China, Thailand and other Asean countries. Thai firms also have invested more in the UK, such as SSI in the steel industry, and CP Group in food processing.
"Even though the UK is not in the euro zone, we're affected by the crisis in euro-zone countries, especially France and Germany, Belgium and Spain, which are among our major trading partners. They have faced economic hardship, so they buy fewer products. As a result, we have to boost exports to other markets, especially those in Asia, namely China, Japan and Korea.
"Last year, Thailand was the UK's 28th biggest trading partner. In Asean, Thailand is the UK's second biggest trading partner after Singapore.
"More specifically on the euro-zone crisis, I think the situation is now very fluid. However, it's now clear that to have a functioning monetary and economic union, they need to have deeper and deeper integration of institutions and closer coordination of policies. We'll see more and more of this in the coming years. The UK is supporting such progress.
"The UK did not join the single currency system from the beginning for several reasons including our different economic cycle, our vision for Europe and the importance we attach to the pound sterling as a monetary instrument, which we did not want to cede control of.
"Our vision of Europe is not one Europe of one size, but one that reflects the diversity of Europe. You may have countries taking a stronger role in defence, or wanting to be in the euro zone or wanting to use the single visa system."
In other words, it's not a one-size-fits-all system for member countries, according to the UK envoy.
Latest stories in this category
- Opportunities across continents
- Britain's ambassador to Thailand, HE Mark Kent,..
- Cyberspace breeds mischief
- For the first time, majority of Americans back..
We Recommend
- The secret of 'Pee Mak's' success lies with the worms
- Writer's note: I assume most of you have seen "Pee..
- Cambodia 'altering maps'
- Romanian expert becomes star at the ICJ
Comments conditions
Users are solely responsible for their comments.We reserve the right to remove any comment and revoke posting rights for any reason withou prior notice.
Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/04/20/opportunities-across-continents/
0 comments:
Post a Comment