ID :
163372
Wed, 02/23/2011 - 13:11
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http://m.oananews.org//node/163372
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Thailand offers to host 19th BIMSTEC TNC
BANGKOK, Feb 23 (TNA) - Thailand has offered to host later this year the 19th meeting of the Trade Negotiation Committee of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), with its member states comprising Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Thai Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot said on Wednesday (Feb 23) that the offer is aimed to help expedite a conclusion of a free trade agreement (FTA) among the members of the BIMSTEC, also known as the Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation, by the end of this year so that the BIMSTEC member countries can begin their tariff cuts on the first group of products by mid-2012.
According to the deputy Thai commerce minister, the BIMSTEC member countries completely worked out a tentative framework of the BIMSTEC FTA at the 18th BIMSTEC TNC Meeting, held in Thailand's southern Phuket Province in June 2009, but a new BIMSTEC TNC meeting to finalise the regional FTA deal has not yet been held since then.
The Thai deputy commerce minister said that Thailand will push for progress on relevant issues needed for the conclusion of the BIMSTEC FTA by July this year, including those on the rule of origins of products, agreed customs procedures and obliged tariff cuts among the member states so that the BIMSTEC FTA will be signed at the 5th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting, set to be held in Bangladesh in December this year, paving the way for a start of tariff cuts in the first group of products among the members by July 2012 at the earliest.
Two-way trade between Thailand and other BIMSTEC member countries totaled 13.01 billion US dollars in 2010, a 25.01 per cent year-on-year expansion, with Thailand gaining a trade surplus of some 2.67 billion US dollars. (TNA)
Thai Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot said on Wednesday (Feb 23) that the offer is aimed to help expedite a conclusion of a free trade agreement (FTA) among the members of the BIMSTEC, also known as the Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation, by the end of this year so that the BIMSTEC member countries can begin their tariff cuts on the first group of products by mid-2012.
According to the deputy Thai commerce minister, the BIMSTEC member countries completely worked out a tentative framework of the BIMSTEC FTA at the 18th BIMSTEC TNC Meeting, held in Thailand's southern Phuket Province in June 2009, but a new BIMSTEC TNC meeting to finalise the regional FTA deal has not yet been held since then.
The Thai deputy commerce minister said that Thailand will push for progress on relevant issues needed for the conclusion of the BIMSTEC FTA by July this year, including those on the rule of origins of products, agreed customs procedures and obliged tariff cuts among the member states so that the BIMSTEC FTA will be signed at the 5th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting, set to be held in Bangladesh in December this year, paving the way for a start of tariff cuts in the first group of products among the members by July 2012 at the earliest.
Two-way trade between Thailand and other BIMSTEC member countries totaled 13.01 billion US dollars in 2010, a 25.01 per cent year-on-year expansion, with Thailand gaining a trade surplus of some 2.67 billion US dollars. (TNA)
