India-Thai trade set to touch $7 billion by FY''11
23 Jun 2007
Mumbai: India''s free trade agreement (FTA) with Thailand could push bilateral trade to $7 billion by 2010-11 but with a widening trade deficit, industry chamber FICCI said.
India''s total trade with Thailand is estimated to grow to $7 billion by 2010-11 from the current $2.2 billion, with exports to the Southeast Asian country likely to touch $2.6 billion by then.
If the FTA is fully implemented, India''s export to Thailand could grow at an annual rate of 20 per cent, FICCI said in its analysis on India-Thailand FTA.
Total trade of 82 items under the Early Harvest Scheme (EHS) of the FTA increased by over 140 per cent to about $358.63 million in 2005-06 from $149 million in 2003-04.
The EHS was implemented on September 1, 2004, under which both sides have to phase out tariffs on 82 items by September 1, 2006.
India''s exports of 82 EHS items to Thailand under the FTA have risen from $64.28 million (2003-04) to $83.03 million (2005-06), whereas its import of these items has surged to $275 million from $84.64 million during the same period.
Share of these 82 items in bilateral trade increased from 10.34 per cent in 2003-04 to 15.68 per cent in 2005-06, it said. This, however, has been accompanied by widening trade deficit for India in these 82 items, it added.
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