A month after Prime Minister Prayut
Chan-o-cha once again
told US business leaders "No!", the new economy
director
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak says "maybe"
the
TPP could put the country back on the world's trade
radar. (Graphic by US
Senate, Somkid photo by Post Today)
Thailand is interested in joining the
controversial Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP) trade pact being touted by the
United States,
but needs to study the terms and conditions of the new trade
bloc first, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak
says.
"We are very interested but we must weigh
the advantages
and disadvantages carefully," Mr Somkid told the Bangkok
Post.
The 12-member trade bloc's economic activities
represent
around 40% of the global economy. Expressing interest would
put
Thailand "on their radar screen", he said.
Since the May 2014 coup against the former
Yingluck Shinawatra
government, Thailand has experienced a restricted
diplomatic
relationship with Western democratic countries.
The government of
coup leader and Prime Minister Prayut
Chan-o-cha has faced a diplomatic
backlash from Washington
to Brussels.
The United States kept Thailand on its
bottom Tier 3 ranking
in its report on human trafficking in July. It said
Bangkok
failed to "fully comply with the minimum standards for the
elimination of trafficking, and is not making significant
efforts to do so".
Last month, Gen Prayut poured cold water on a call by
an American business lobby group urging Thailand to join
the TPP.
A ministerial meeting in Hawaii in July
failed to reach a deal
on the new trade agreement, and no date has been set for
future talks.
"I need to be careful about what I say about such a critical
agreement that could make or break Thailand. All parties must
be consulted,
especially the Ministry of Public Health,"
Gen Prayut said after he met
some 60 executives from top
American firms from the US-Asean Business Council.
The Hawaii talks -- which included trade ministers from
Australia, Brunei,
Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico,
New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US
and Vietnam --
covered a wide area, from tariffs on automotive, rice and
dairy
products, to intellectual property protections for
pharmaceuticals.
The US-Asean Business Council president and
CEO Alexander
Feldman said during a visit to Bangkok in August that
Thailand's
accession to the TPP would increase American
investment in Thailand.
He
has welcomed Bangkok's interest in taking part.
"TPP is a 21st century
trade agreement that will assist
Thai companies that export both goods and
services by
opening new markets," Mr Feldman wrote in a email to
the
Bangkok Post.
"Thailand has globally competitive
industries in cars,
electronics, agriculture, healthcare services and tourism,
just to name a few areas. The e-commerce chapter of the
TPP also offers Thai
companies, especially small and
medium sized companies, an opportunity to access
markets
via e-commerce across the TPP economies and should
be an important
opportunity for future growth of these
businesses," he said.
Mr Somkid's remarks echo what other cabinet
ministers
say about the potential benefits of TPP.
Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn told
reporters
last month Thailand would have a much greater market for
its products
if it joins the multi-national trade bloc, but it
should wait for the TPP to be
firmly established by core
members first.
Mrs Apiradi said the fate of pharmaceuticals
and biodiversity
under the agreement are potential concerns if Thailand
was to
join TPP.
Mrs
Apiradi's predecessor, Gen Chatchai Sarikalya, said
last month TPP could yield
greater benefits for Thai exports
to the United States than Washington's tax
privileges under
the Generalised System of Preferences, which are reviewed
periodically.
Critics have complained the deal is being
negotiated in secret
and it favours large corporations over workers and
consumers.
Local NGOs predict Thai consumers Thai
consumers would
have to pay much higher prices for patented medicines,
though
Mr Feldman said the TPP would benefit Thailand's
booming medical tourism
industry, in which patients would
have access to the latest developed drugs.
An executive in the Thai auto parts industry
also expressed
concern local manufacturers could lose out if the country
does
not join the TPP.
Rules-of-origin
regulations could could affect in particular
Japanese investments, as sales to
TPP markets would be
constrained if the country did not join the treaty.
Conversely, Thai suppliers would stand to
benefit if the country
joined the trade bloc. Mr Feldman said
Thailand needs approval
by all 12 current TPP members to join.
"It is our understanding the current 12
members have agreed
to finish negotiations and finalise the agreement before
considering whether to let additional countries join the TPP,
" he said.
News,General,Bangkok Post,14 September 2015.
In my viewpoint,as the 12-member trade
bloc's economic
activities represent around 40% of the
global economy
which is almost half of world global
economic.
So the decision to join TPP should be
consider.
And agree with Dr Somkid , we must weigh the
advantages
and disadvantages carefully.
Believe that all analysis can work out and
all is for the
benefits of our country first.
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