US delivery firms eye Thai gateway
The United States wants Thailand to open the express delivery service sector so its firms can use the country as a gateway to expand to neighbouring countries in the Asean region in a prospective free trade agreement, according to Sompong Siriponsilp, director of the Transportation Institute of Chulalongkorn University.
Sompong said yesterday that US companies wanted to establish Thailand as a service base to build trade networks and tap markets in Indochina and other parts of the Asean grouping. Thailand’s wide network in these regions would benefit US companies.
Thailand participates in many regional economic and social cooperation forums such as the Greater Mekong Sub-region, the Asean Free Trade Area as well as FTAs between Asean and other trading partners, he said.
A seminar entitled “Negotiation of Thai-US FTA in Services: Risk or Challenge”, held by the Department of Trade Negotiations yesterday, aimed to elicit comments from the public.
Sompong said the US had pressured Thailand for more access to the express delivery service market during recent FTA talks. But with its better technology and experience, the US would undermine the competitiveness of Thai operators, said Sompong.
The US express-delivery business generates more than US$50 billion (Bt1.97 trillion) a year in revenue.
Thai express-delivery services, such as trucking lines and cross-border service providers, have problems, particularly with operating efficiency and lack of capital. They need years to develop before they can cope with foreign competitors, he said.
“We need more time, at least five to 10 years, to improve our business operations to compete with the US,” Sompong said.
Pimchanok Vonkhorporn, director of the Bureau of Negotiations on Trade in Services, said the US had pressured Thailand to open markets in finance, logistics, and telecommunications. These are areas that few US companies have been able to enter in Thailand.
Both countries agreed to exclude postal services from the negotiations because it is a business that relates to national interest, she said.
At the sixth round of talks in Chiang Mai last month, the US asked for better access to the service sector. Thailand is now preparing for negotiations that will be held later this month in the US.
Pimchanok said that for the seventh round of talks, Thailand would present a list of service industries it wants to protect so that local companies have time to prepare for competition.
Service sector businesses the government wants to exclude from the FTA include public transportation, property, energy, and services that relate to Thai traditions and culture.
Pinchanok said there were other services being considered for the list, but she refused to specify which ones.
Thailand will also add telecommunications to the list to protect it for up to three to five years, said Chirapa Chitraswang, principle advisor for Communications.
She said that the US proposed some unacceptable conditions for the telecommunications sector at the meeting last month. For instance, the US wants Thailand to allow US firms to create networks of cable and satellite services in Thailand, without setting up offices in the country.
But as we have no regulations to control cross-border services, we will inform the US that we are not yet prepared to open the sector to them, said Chirapa.
She said that the US also asked the Thai government to reduce its stake in CAT Telecom Plc and TOT Plc.
Petchanet Pratruangkrai
The Nation
