Thailand, China to ink agreement

Thailand, China to ink agreement

BANGKOK: Thailand is to sign an agreement with China to reduce
tariffs on fruit and vegetables traded between the two countries
to zero from October, the Thai government said on Tuesday.

The agreement was part of ongoing negotiations under the
historic framework agreement between China and the 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to create a free
trade area, a government statement said.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his Chinese
counterpart Wen Jiabao met on the sidelines of the ASEAN-China
emergency SARS summit in the Thai capital in April to conclude
negotiations on lowering the tariff, it said.

The agreement will enable Thailand and China to trade
domestically grown fruit and vegetables without tariffs from
October 1 this year.

ASEAN and Beijing have agreed to complete their FTA -- which
could be the world's largest, covering 1.7 billion people -- by
2015. -- AFP