EFTA and Thailand make progress in their fourth round of free trade agreement negotiations

EFTA and Thailand Heads of delegation

The negotiations were conducted through videoconferencing and partly in-person in Geneva, with Ambassador Markus Schlagenhof, Delegate of the Federal Council for Trade Agreements at the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs acting as the EFTA spokesperson and Director General Auramon Supthaweetum from the Department of Trade Negotiations in the Ministry of Commerce of Thailand leading the Thai delegation.

Expert discussions focused on the following topics: trade in goods, rules of origin, TBT, trade in services, investment, trade remedies, legal and horizontal issues and dispute settlement, government procurement, trade and sustainable development, cooperation and capacity building and intellectual property rights.

Both sides made significant progress during the week and the common spirit of a swift conclusion continues.

EFTA’s detailed report of the 4^th 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.