EFTA moves ever closer to sealing FTA with Thailand
5 February 2024
Bangkok - The EFTA member states of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland have made significant progress in the eighth round of negotiations with Thailand for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The two parties are now hopeful that negotiations can be successfully concluded before the end of this year.
The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is inching ever closer to sealing a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Thailand. An eighth round of negotiations took place in the Thai capital of Bangkok from January 30 through to February 2, 2024. As detailed by EFTA in a press release, the two parties have reported that significant progress was made during these talks.
According to the press release, the negotiations focused on clarifying outstanding issues in various sectors, including trade in goods, rules of origin, trade in services, investments and SMEs. Other topics up for discussion included sustainable development, public procurement processes, cooperation and capacity building, trade remedies, legal and horizontal issues, as well as intellectual property rights.
The heads of the respective delegations convened several times to take stock both of the progress made and the challenges that still lie ahead. They “maintained a positive outlook” throughout the talks. The next round of negotiations is scheduled for April, when both sides will aim to build on this positive momentum in the hope that the negotiations can be wrapped up before the end of this year.