- Home
- About us
- Visas and migration
- Travelling to Australia
- Services for Australians
- Doing business with Australia
- Study in Australia
- Bilateral cooperation
- Media
- About Australia
- Australia- Thailand relationship
- Events
Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement:
Good For Business
During a recent visit to Thailand by the Executive Committee of the Australia-Thailand Institute (ATI) - established by the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon Alexander Downer MP, to promote further the bilateral relationship - ATI Chairman and former Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Trade Minister Mr Tim Fischer AC said that the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) had had a positive impact on two-way trade and investment.
“TAFTA is a win-win trade pact. The agreement has not only driven export growth between the two nations, but the investors are also confident that the pact will continue to promote investment growth in the long run,” said Mr Fischer.
He believed more Australian businesses would look to invest in Thailand, following the earlier successful model of many Australian companies. Potential businesses include information technology, mining equipment, financial services, automobiles and gold mining.
ANCA Manufacturing (Thailand) Ltd, a subsidiary of an Australian leading designer and manufacturer of high technology Computer Numerical Controls (CNCs) for the machine tool and metal-based industries, recently announced that the company is set to triple the number of its manufacturing facilities and employees early next year.
Mr Mark Patman, General Manager of ANCA Thailand, said ANCA’s Thai facility had consistently delivered quality product to ANCA’s main manufacturing facility in Australia, which had confirmed the value and competitiveness of its investment in Thailand and its Thai workforce.
“Initially we moved only low technology sub-assembly from Australia to Thailand. This quickly proved to be successful so we have progressively moved more complex products as each level of manufacturing technology has been mastered. Now we have strong confidence in our facility here as it has complemented our operations in Australia, with an average growth of 25% annually over the past three years” said Mr Patman.
Despite several unfavourable factors, including the volatile and strengthening baht, the rising oil price and political turbulence in Thailand, Mr Matthew Hoag, CEO of the Australian-owned Laem Chabang International Terminal Co. Ltd. (LCIT), noted that the volume of Thai exports had not dropped significantly in the past year.
“The situation isn’t as bad as many people think. We continue to have 100% of our containers loaded for each export shipment, and our terminals operate 24/7,” Mr Hoag said.
Since commencing operations in 1998, LCIT has seen steady growth from 181,195 teus (unit of shipping volume) to 1.28 million teus last year. The initial forecast for 2007 volume is at 1.1 million teus, representing around 22% market share of Laem Chabang Port.
Australian Senior Trade Commissioner to Thailand Mr Sean Riley notes the broader benefits to Thailand of Australian investment, “In addition to the capital inflow of Australian investment, these Australian companies also contribute significantly to Thai society in terms of technology transfer, workforce skill development, best and safe work practices, environmental care and social responsibilities”.
BlueScope Steel (Thailand) Ltd, the current largest Australian investor in Thailand, for example, has just achieved 19.6 million hours without a Lost Time Injury (LTI) in June 2007, a milestone record which illustrates the company’s high standard work practices among its 500 staff.
“We are proud to be a part of the Thai community, contributing to Thailand’s stable economic growth. And we look forward to attracting more Australian investors to come to Thailand,” concluded Sean.