BANGKOK: Border trade between Malaysia and Thailand increased 30.26% to 627.7 billion baht (RM79 billion) last year following the reopening of all nine checkpoints along the borders of both countries that have boosted economic activities.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said export to Malaysia increased 42.62% to 346.6 billion baht while import rose 18.44% to 281.1 billion baht last year, resulting in a 65.5 billion baht trade surplus.
For 2021, he said Thailand’s overall border trade, including transit trade stood 1.71 trillion baht, an increase of 30.03% year-on-year (y-o-y).
He said export expanded 34.6% to 1.03 trillion baht while import jumped 23.7% to 684 billion baht, resulting in a trade surplus of 347.3 billion baht in 2021.
“Last year, Thailand’s cross-border trade with four neighbouring countries namely Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, stood at 924 billion baht, an increase of 21.56% y-o-y while transit trade with Singapore, Vietnam, Southern China and other countries stood at 791 billion baht, a growth of 41.55% y-o-y,” he said in a statement.
For 2022, Jurin said Thailand’s cross-border trade is expected to expand between 5% and 7% to between 1.08 trillion baht and 1.1 trillion baht, driven by global and regional economic recovery.
The Deputy Prime Minister said a weaker baht would increase the competitiveness of Thai products.
He said the newly-opened high-speed rail connecting China and Laos is expected to facilitate the transport of Thai goods, especially agricultural products export this year.
“The Commerce Ministry plans to reopen more border checkpoints to boost border trade activities this year. We plan to reopen at least 12 border checkpoints this year to boost border trade,” he said.
So far, 48 of the 97 checkpoints, including all nine checkpoints along the Malaysian border are in operation.
The Thai government closed its border checkpoints to curb the spread of Covid-19 in March 2020, leading to trade disruptions as freight carriers struggled to deliver goods.
Meanwhile, Jurin said the unpredictable pandemic, especially the highly contagious Omicron variant would affect the reopening of border checkpoints and traffic of goods along the borders.
“The political and economic situation in Myanmar may affect border exports to Myanmar, especially Myanmar's policy to reduce the usage of foreign currency and control imports to reduce balance of payments,” he said. – Bernama