EFTA and Thailand hold successful seventh round of free trade agreement negotiations

EFTA and Thailand Heads of delegation

Delegates from the EFTA States – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland – and Thailand met for the seventh round of negotiations towards a free trade agreement from 6 to 9 November 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Ambassador Markus Schlagenhof, Delegate of the Federal Council for Trade Agreements at the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, acted as the EFTA spokesperson, while Thailand's delegation was co-led by Director General Auramon Supthaweetum from the Department of Business Development and Director General Chotima Iemsawasdikul from the Department of Trade Negotiations within the Ministry of Commerce of Thailand.

Throughout the week, experts covered a range of areas including trade in goods, rules of origin, trade in services, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), e-commerce, investment, trade remedies, government procurement, as well as cooperation and capacity building. Heads of delegation met on several occasions to assess and address challenging issues.

Both sides welcomed the steady progress made in these negotiations, underlining their shared commitment to concluding a free trade agreement in 2024. The public report of the round is available here. 

Economic relations between the EFTA States and Thailand

In 2022, bilateral EFTA–Thailand merchandise trade exceeded USD 3.5 billion. Clocks and watches, fish and crustaceans, and pharmaceutical products were the primary exports from EFTA to Thailand, while electronic machinery, clocks and watch parts, and iron structures were the primary imports from Thailand.

Read more about merchandise trade between EFTA and Thailand here.