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