Thai Chamber of Commerce intends to promote the development of border trade
According to recent news from the Thai media, the Thai government plans to speed up the development of border trade and establish joint special economic zones with border countries to promote trade and investment.
The Thai Chamber of Commerce said the move could help offset a host of risks to global markets, such as the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the energy crisis and sharp increases in prices of agricultural raw materials and rare earth elements, all of which will drive up production costs in manufacturing and product prices rose accordingly. The Thai Chamber of Commerce advised the government to speed up the reopening of border checkpoints between Thailand and Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar to boost trade, investment and tourism. The Thai Chamber of Commerce suggested that the government consider allowing more imports of cassava for energy use from Laos and Cambodia to balance bilateral trade volumes, which will help ease the economic difficulties of these countries. Thailand needs to take steps to inspect and control the quality standards of imported cassava, including measures to ensure it is free from diseases affecting the crop. If our neighbouring countries sell cassava to Vietnam and China, Thai entrepreneurs will lose the opportunity for export processing.
Joint SEZs with neighboring countries should start with the food processing industry, which could help ease the influx of illegal labor into Thailand, as well as the influx of agricultural products from neighboring countries. Workers from neighboring countries can work in the zone and return home at night, and Thailand can buy agricultural products to be processed in factories and then exported to neighboring countries.
The southern regions of northeastern Thailand have great potential for such areas, including Buriram and Ubolratana with good roads and infrastructure.
Increased border trade will benefit small entrepreneurs and businessmen in these provinces and serve as a development model for other economic sectors, especially tourism, as is the case in Hat Yai, Songkhla.
Thailand has allowed the import of tapioca flour from neighboring countries, the Commerce Ministry said. Border trade is expected to grow 5 percent this year to 1.08 trillion baht. From January to April this year, Thailand's border trade contracted by 0.04% year-on-year to 314 billion baht.