Thailand seeks barter deal

Thailand seeks barter deal

BANGKOK: Major shrimp exporter Thailand has proposed a barter deal to trade its prawns to purchase Airbus planes, and warned it could turn to U.S. competitor Boeing if Airbus doesn't bite, a report said on Tuesday.

The Bangkok Post said Thailand is keen to use the aircraft negotiations to offload a prawn surplus onto the European Union after seafood exports to the bloc plummeted last year.

"Thailand right now no longer has sufficient cash to buy aircraft from Airbus," Commerce Minister Watana Muangsook said according to the English-language daily.

"We will raise this issue in talks with the European Union. If the EU and Airbus are not interested, we may turn to negotiations with Boeing in the U.S.."

Details of the barter proposal were not revealed, but Watana reportedly said the arrangement was in line with the government's policy of pushing for barters on state deals worth more than 300 million baht (US$7.57 million).

The minister complained Thailand was being dealt with unfairly by the European Union which slaps tariffs as high as 12 percent on the kingdom's shrimp exports compared to just 4.0 percent levied on neighboring Malaysia. -- AFP