BANGKOK, Sept 23 (TNA) – Thailand gears up to resume free
trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with the European Union that have been
halted since the 2014 military coup.
The Trade Negotiation Department held a seminar on the
Thai-EU FTA negotiations on Monday as it prepares resume the long-delayed talks.
The Department’s director-general Auramon Supthaweethum said the
seminar served for updating on the latest studies on the FTA and taking
opinions from stakeholders.
The Department has requested academic institutes to compile
reports on pros and cons of the future FTA which will be complete in November.
Auramon said the Department had already organized public
opinion forums on the matter and planned for additional forums in October and
November.
The process of public opinion gathering should be completed
in time for official resumption of the negotiations, she said.
This year the EU has showed its enthusiasm to resume talks
with Thailand after it stalled the FTA negotiations in 2014 following the
military coup.
The EU is the third largest trading partner of Thailand; the
bilateral trade value reached US$47.29 billion last year.(TNA)
