Thai manufacturers and exporters are being urged to improve their competitiveness in the European market as prospective EU buyers may shift to cheaper goods from Vietnam after the EU-Vietnam free-trade agreement (FTA) became effective in August 2020.
Auramon Supthaweethum, director-general of the Trade Negotiations Department, said EU buyers may consider importing products from Vietnam instead of Thailand if they find cheaper goods there.
“The department is monitoring a group of key products that may be hard hit by the EU-Vietnam FTA that scraps duties on 99% of all goods traded between the two sides,” she said.
“The EU imports a relatively large amount of pasta, rice, processed fish, canned squid, bicycle tyres, durian and vegetable and fruit juices from Thailand. To retain a competitive edge for Thai goods in the EU, Thai entrepreneurs need to speed up…
