Positive prospect seen for Thailand's exports of fresh and processed fruits

BANGKOK, May 15 (TNA) - Bangkok-based University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) has assessed that there are remaining rooms for the country's exports of fresh and processed fruits to the United States and China despite the escalating trade war between the immense major economies. While voicing the assessment, Ath Pisalvanich, Director of the UTCC's Center for International Trade Studies (CITS), said on May 14 that there are also rooms for Thai exports of auto parts and furniture products to the US market, so are Thai exports of beverages, animal feeds and cleaning products to the Chinese market. However, Ath told journalists that Thai exports of computers, parts and accessories, as well as machines and clothes to the US market should decline in the coming months due to the escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing, so should Thai exports of rubber and chemical products, as well as plastic pellets to the Chinese market. Besides, Thai exports over the next couple of years should generally be affected by a free trade agreement (FTA) between Europe and neighboring Vietnam in the ASEAN Community (AC), which will be effective as of the third quarter of this year. The CITS director estimated that the Europe-Vietnam FTA alone should cause a drop in Thai exports by 0.8 per cent annually on average, with the country's export values likely to fall by about 21.53 billion baht in the second half of this year and by about 38.61 billion baht over the next two years, calling on the newly-elected Thai government to speed up negotiations and the conclusion of new FTAs with trading partners, along with exploring more opportunities for Thai exports to such potential markets as India, Brazil, Russia and Africa through offering comparatively lower prices for high quality Thai goods. According to the CITS director, Thai exports of clothes and apparels, machines and parts and electrical appliances and parts should be mostly affected by the Vietnam-Europe FTA. Meanwhile, Deputy Commerce Minister Chutima Bunyapraphasara told reporters on Wednesday that Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, who oversees economic affairs, will chair a meeting of the country's top commercial envoys stationed in foreign economies in Bangkok during May 30-31 to discuss and assess both pro and con of the escalating trade war between the immense Chinese and the US markets. Chantavarn Sucharitakul, Bank of Thailand (BOT) Assistant Governor for Corporate Strategy and Relations Group, revealed that the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will assess impacts from the escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing at its next month's meeting, projecting initially that the ongoing trade war between the immense Chinese and the US economies should affect all other economies relying on international trade, including Thailand, in terms of a drop in trade, investment and tourism due to a slowdown in the world economy. Based on latest projections of many institutions, including the Thai Ministry of Commerce and the UTCC, the country's export growth in 2019 could hardly meet the official target of about 8 per cent year-on-year due mainly to impacts from the trade war between the United States and China, which is expected to be persistent. (TNA)