The 7

The 7

Trade Policy Review of Thailand

Statement by the Republic of Korea

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to extend a warm welcome to the delegates of Thailand who are here today for its seventh trade policy review. My appreciation especially goes to Deputy Director-General Ms. Sunanta Kangvalkulkij for her informative presentation on the economic achievements and current status of Thailand.

My thanks also go to Ambassador Wayne McCook (of Jamaica) for his contribution as a discussant and to the Secretariat for its comprehensive report.

2. Korea-Thailand Bilateral Relations

Thailand is one of Korea’s key trading partners. I am pleased to note that Korea and Thailand have expanded their trade relations over the years, with bilateral trade reaching roughly 13 billion US dollars in 2014. Korea hopes that both countries will continue to strengthen the bilateral economic partnership well into the future based on, among others, the Korea-ASEAN Agreements on Trade in Goods and Services and the Korea-ASEAN Agreement on Investment.

3. General Assessment of Thailand’s Achievements since 2011

Turning to Thailand’s economic trends, we wish to note that the economy of Thailand has maintained macro-financial stability and showed resilience and signs of recovery despite some challenges including massive floods. Specifically, inflation dropped

progressively to 1.9% in 2014, which is half of its 2011 level, and the unemployment rate remained stable at 0.8%. Its GDP growth was forecast by the IMF to stand at 3.7% in 2015 and 4.1% in 2016.

Mr. Chairman, while reviewing the progress achieved by Thailand during the review period, my delegation noted some areas in which considerations for further improvement might be necessary. I would like to take this opportunity to make some comments on Thailand’s trade policies and practices.

First, we applaud Thailand’s commitment to the multilateral trading system as well as

its proactive participation in numerous regional and bilateral trade liberalization efforts.

However, to sustain its economic growth amid increasing internal and external uncertainties, Korea believes that it is important for the Thai government to continue undertaking structural reforms aimed at improving its international competitiveness and enhancing growth, while maintaining openness to foreign trade and investment.

Second, Korea remains concerned particularly over the restrictions applied to foreign

investment, the complicated tariff structure and tax systems, the widespread use of price controls, and non-tariff barriers such as import licensing and prohibitions on various items, as indicated in the Secretariat report. Korea notes that there have been no major changes in these areas since the last TPR of Thailand, and hopes that the Thai government will address these concerns in a timely manner to further facilitate trade and to enhance the predictability of its trade regime.

Third, we note that Thailand remains an infrequent user of anti-dumping measures

and no initiation of any investigation of countervailing duty measures has occurred yet.

However, recourse to safeguard measures intensified and several contingency measures affected steel products during the review period. Recalling that safeguard measures are designed as a trade remedy against fair trade to address exceptional circumstances and not as a tool to promote domestic industry, it would be advisable that more prudent approaches be taken in initiating safeguard investigations.

5. Concluding Remarks

Mr. Chairman, it is our hope that Thailand will continue to actively participate in strengthening the WTO multilateral trading system. In particular, we appreciate Thailand’s timely acceptance of the Protocol of Amendment to insert the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) into the WTO Agreement.

With this, we would like to conclude by expressing our sincere appreciation to the Thai delegation for the hard work and wish Thailand every success in its TPR. Thank you.

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