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| ADBI Survey: Thai Businesses Benefit from FTAs |
| UPDATE : 9 February 2010 |
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The Asian Development Bank Institute indicates that Free Trade Areas will gain more popularity amongst Thai companies as they will offer new business opportunities, but say that Thai entrepreneurs still lack adequate knowledge about the trade agreements.
The Asian Development Bank Institute has suggested that 25 percent of Thai companies that responded to a recent survey have already begun taking advantage of the newly enacted Free Trade Areas and are likely to continue to receive additional benefits, as the commercial agreements offer more access to markets, bring about new business opportunities and provide customs privileges.
The survey questioned 220 Thai companies and was the first poll in Thailand to study the impact of the Free Trade Areas, or FTAs.
The Asian Development Bank Institute, or ADBI, indicated that the number of FTAs in the Asian region has been on the rise and many countries, including Thailand, are eying the FTAs as a way to penetrate overseas markets.
As a result, companies have decided to increase off-shore sales by taking advantages of FTAs.
The ADBI said more and more Thai firms will turn to FTAs to reach international markets and that the Thai garment and textile industries hope that the Thai-US FTA will considerably benefit them.
However, the survey also found that Thai entrepreneurs-- especially small and medium sized enterprises-- still lack knowledge about FTAs.
This means that these companies could miss out on huge commercial opportunities and that the government must work harder to increase competency amongst the private sector.
The survey also found that 25 percent of these organizations have taken advantage of FTAs since 2007 and the number of firms that will join FTAs is likely to grow, while 46 percent of the respondents said FTAs have had an influence on their business strategies.
In addition, 26 percent of those interviewed stated that adjustment to FTAs increases business capital and half of 200 companies surveyed said they consulted with state agencies and business associations and wanted to improve their businesses to comply with FTAs regulations.
The survey, conducted by the ADBI, also recommended that Thai-owned firms learn more about FTAs, increase their competency of local markets and try to deal with the disadvantages of FTAs.
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