Thai fruit squeezing into Indian market
India is a promising destination for Thai fruits such as rambutan, longan and pineapple, now that the market has opened up under the free-trade agreement signed between the two countries in 2003, Board of Trade of Thailand director Satish Sehgal said yesterday.
Since the implementation of the FTA in September 2004, Thailand and India have both boosted their exports. In 2005-2006, Thai exports to India were worth US$1.2 billion (Bt44.86 billion), 39 per cent higher than the $867 million in the previous 12 months.India's exports to Thailand totalled $1.062 billion, up 18 per cent from $902 million in 2004-2005. Most of Thailand's exports to India comprise electronic goods, machinery and steel, and agricultural products. Satish said the government was negotiating with New Delhi to lower import duties on more products, as India's tariffs are 22 per cent on average. Thailand's import tariffs, meanwhile, average out at just 9 per cent. Eighty-two products exported from Thailand to India are exempt from import duties, he added. The Indian government is trying to attract Thai entrepreneurs in food-processing industries to invest in India so that local businesses can benefit from Thai processing and technology know-how. Sanjay Dave, director of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority in India, said the processed-food market there was expected to triple in the next 10 years, from $100 billion in 2004 to $310 billion in 2015. It also aims to increase its share of world trade in this sector from 1.7 per cent ($7.5 billion) to 3 per cent ($20 billion) by 2015. India is a large and growing market for agricultural and food products due to its population of 1.08 billion, which is growing at about 1.6 per cent annually. Dave said factors that have lead to a rapid demand for processed food in India were changing lifestyles, growth in disposable income, and the rising trend of double-income families. Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul, The Nation
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