(Photo: The Pattaya News)

Trade Negotiations Department Director-General Oramon Sapthaweetham said that, from January to June this year, Thailand exported vegetables worth US$143 million, a 9.7% decrease compared to the same period last year, according to VOV.

Countries with which Thailand has Free Trade Agreements (FTA) remain the largest markets, worth US$94 million, or 66% of the country’s total vegetable exports. Among the FTA members, Japan is the kingdom’s biggest buyer, making up 36%, while all ASEAN countries combined make up 22% of the total export volume.

(Photo: Thailand Business News)

Some of the popular products include fresh garlic which, during the first half of the year saw export volume grow 124%, compared to the same period last year, to US$13.8 million, while chilli also grew by 33% to US$8.3 million, along with frozen nuts, which remain popular as exports increased 0.5% to 37.6 million dollars. Meanwhile, demand for frozen sweet corn contracted by 17.7% to US$9.6 million.

At present, the kingdom has FTA agreements with 17 nations, 13 of which no longer levy import duties of Thai vegetables. The 13 countries include China, Hongkong, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Chile, Peru and 6 countries in ASEAN namely, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Brunei. Meanwhile, the five countries who are FTA partners, but still impose import duties, are South Korea, India, Cambodia, Laos and the Philippines, reported by Thailand Business News.