Thailand reopens free trade talks with EU to reduce reliance on China
- China accounted for 14 per cent of Thailand’s total foreign direct investment in 2018
- Talks had been on hold since 2014, when a military coup in Thailand ousted the democratically elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra
The European Union has restarted talks with Thailand on a potential free trade agreement, just days after unfreezing a deadlock put in place by the previous military junta that ruled one of Southeast Asia’s more advanced economies.
The resumption of talks comes as Thailand seeks to diversify its economy and reduce its reliance on China, which accounted for 14 per cent of the country’s total foreign direct investment in 2018.
Sasiwat Wongsinsawat, director general of the Thai foreign ministry’s department of European affairs, held talks in Brussels on Wednesday with top EU officials in charge of Asia.
“A long but productive day in Brussels yesterday,” Pirkka Tapiola, EU ambassador to Thailand, wrote in a Twitter post on Thursday. “We covered a lot of discussions on how to enhance our engagement going forward.”
Tapiola was joined by Paola Pampaloni, the second-in-command on Asian affairs in the EU’s diplomatic arm, the European External Action Service.
