Tuesday, July 6, 2004
Australia and Thailand sign free trade deal
Associated Press Canberra, July 5
Australia and Thailand on Monday signed a landmark free trade deal heralded as an important step toward Australia and New Zealand's inclusion in a Southeast Asian free trade zone.
Following the signing of the deal -- Australia's second with a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations after Singapore -- Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said he looked forward to discussing future economic ties at an ASEAN summit in November to which Australia and New Zealand have been invited.
The 10 ASEAN countries already have their own free trade zone called the ASEAN Free Trade Area, or AFTA, while Australia and New Zealand's economies are linked to one another by the Closer Economic Relations, or CER, bilateral free trade deal.
"This summit will further reinforce the strategic cooperation between ASEAN and Australia," Thaksin said in a speech in Parliament House. "In my view, TAFTA (Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement) is also an important building block for an AFTA-CER free trade agreement in the future."
He said the Australia-Thailand deal created opportunities for Australia beyond Thailand because of flow-on from Bangkok's free trade deals with countries including China and India. Australian Prime Minister John Howard welcomed Thailand's first free trade agreement with a developed country.
"The free trade agreement is a good outcome for both countries," Howard told reporters after the signing. Under the deal, which focuses on increasing market access, tariffs will be eliminated from more than 5,000 items, or 83 per cent of Australia's imports from Thailand, including fruit, vegetables and automobiles.
Thailand will wipe out tariffs on 50 per cent of the goods it imports from Australia, including fuels and chemical products, when the deal comes into force on January 1 next year.
Opponents in Bangkok have demanded an investigation into the deal, claiming it will benefit the business interests of Thaksin -- a former policeman who became a telecommunications billionaire.
The lobby group Campaign for Media Reform said Thaksin's commercial interests in the satellite and communications industry would especially benefit from greater market access to Australia. "It is shameless and grossly unethical for a national leader to put personal gains before those of the nation," the group said in a statement issued in Bangkok.
The group also demanded a public referendum on TAFTA, which has yet to be endorsed by the parliaments of either country. Canberra believes the agreement will boost the Australian economy by at least A$3 billion ($2.1 billion).
Australian export gains next year from the pact should be about A$275 million ($196 million), Thai authorities have said. The pact also will open up more opportunities for Australian companies to invest in Thai businesses. Last year, trade between Thailand and Australia totaled A$5.4 billion ($3.7 billion). Thailand has a trade surplus with Australia of about A$1 billion ($710 million) a year.
After visiting Canberra, Thaksin was to fly on Monday to the southern city of Melbourne, where he was to open an exhibition of Thai produce on Tuesday before flying to New Zealand.
© HT Media Ltd. 2004.