hailand should quickly negotiate and conclude a Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement with Europe in the absence of a Generalized System of Preferences offered by the European Union, says Suttinee Poopaka, Executive Director, Thailand Textile Institute. Suttinee feels Thailand should not only to conclude an FTA agreement with Europe as soon as possible but boost its production competitiveness too in its textiles and garments.

Due to competitiveness, many Thai manufacturers have now relocated their production units to neighboring countries like Cambodia, which still enjoys GSP privileges. It is pertinent to note that the European Union has cut GSP privileges to several countries, including Thailand, since January 1 after the World Bank redefined them as upper-middle income countries from 2011 to 2013. Due to which Thailand has to pay high duty as much as 12 per cent for products exported to the EU, impacting the country’s competitiveness with countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar which still enjoy GSP privileges.