Department of International Trade Negotiation supports entrepreneurs Community enterprises and farmers in the Betong area, Yala province take advantage of the FTA to increase the opportunity to export durian to foreign markets, revealing that there are 17 countries that do not collect import taxes from Thailand. South Korea is the only country left to collect, but will reduce under the RCEP to 0% in 74.
Mrs. Oramon Sapthaweetham Director-General of the Department of International Trade Negotiations revealed that on July 1, 2022, the Department visited the area to visit the Durian Suan Sakdi Community Enterprise, Betong District, Yala Province to meet with entrepreneurs. community enterprise and durian farmers Paving the way for southern durian produce that began to gradually enter the market in July took advantage of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that Thailand has entered into with 18 trading partners including ASEAN, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, India, Chile and Peru, which has canceled the import duty on durian from Thailand Take advantage of the FTA to export durians to markets where Thailand has FTAs in 17 countries, leaving only South Korea retaining import tariffs at 36 percent but will gradually reduce to 0% in 2031 under the agreement. RCEP
In this regard, Betong Durian Suan Prestige Community Enterprise Established in 2021 with 7 members, durian planting on an area of 25 rai over 17 years, totaling more than 400 trees, producing 3 species of durian, namely Musang King variety. Ou Qi or Black Thorn and long lychee varieties It is uniquely different from other areas, namely dry yellow color. Unique aroma and sweet taste. It is an organic farm produces non-toxic durian and has received the GAP certification standard, which helps to raise the quality and price of durian. Fresh durian focuses on online marketing. And some are sold in Tops Supermarket and sell frozen durian to tourists. including selling durian seedlings, priced at 100 baht per tree, able to be distributed nationwide per year 60,000-80,000 trees, which are the latest plans to expand production for export in the future
Mrs. Oramon said that the Department attaches great importance to the development of trade potential of entrepreneurs. Community enterprises, farmers in the southern border areas, since 2018, the project has been carried out “Building a network connecting the 4 southern border provinces to the ASEAN free trade market” continuously every year, including Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and Songkhla, which is an integrated work with partner agencies, including the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center (SBPAC), Office provincial commerce National Farmers Council and the office of the Provincial Farmers Council in the form of field visits along with the seminar To create knowledge and understanding regarding the utilization of FTA for farmers community enterprise and entrepreneurs, which found that there were products with potential and readiness for export Especially fruits, which are important economic crops, such as durian, mangosteen, oranges, longkong and bananas.
Currently, Thailand exports fresh and frozen durian. Ranked No. 1 in the world in 2021 with a total value of 3.788 million US dollars. Divided into exports of fresh durian worth 3.490 million USD, an increase of 68%, and export of chilled and frozen durian worth 299 million USD, an increase of 42%. The main export market is China, with an export value of 3.4 billion USD (90% of Thailand’s durian exports), followed by Hong Kong with $197 million (5% of Thai durian exports) and Vietnam, $119 million (3% of Thai durian exports).
During the four months of 2022 (Jan.-April), Thailand exported durian to the world market worth US$721 million. Divided into fresh durian worth $676 million (96% of total Thai durian exports) and chilled and frozen durian export worth USD 45 million. The main export markets are China, Hong Kong and China Taipei, with total exports to FTA partner countries of US$712 million (99% of total exports), an increase of 23%.
