ISDS Case Map
finance | banking | taxes
Talks to open up market access for the insurance sector within the framework of the Thai-US Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement ended here today with the only agreement - that each side would scrutinise the other's list of demand for further consultations.
After the sixth round of free-trade negotiations with the United States drew to a close yesterday, the Bank of Thailand said that Bangkok would continue to push for a gradual opening of its financial sector rather than within three years as the US has proposed.
The government should build a financial architecture before establishing a free trade area (FTA) between Thailand and the United States, according to leading financiers.
Services and financial sectors, left aside in early rounds of talks on a US-Thailand free trade agreement, will be put on the table during the sixth round next week, a Thai negotiator said on Friday.
Thai finance officials will for the first time make an offer to open up the country's financial services, which should make or break the proposed Thai-US free-trade agreement (FTA) during talks next week, says a Thai finance source.
Australia will urge the US to prise open its lucrative sugar markets as part of a fresh push to improve access for farmers under the free trade deal. The Howard Government's renewed attempt to secure a better deal from the free trade agreement came as Acting Prime Minister Mark Vaile defended lopsided results from the first year of the pact.
National Merchants and Entrepreneurs Federation president Antonio Cruz assured today that there is generalized disarray throughout the Dominican Republic with initial implementation of the tax reform, and requested the government to reconsider enforcing it as of next July when CAFTA comes into effect.
The Customs Department's tax targets are expected to fall next year, due to Free Trade Area dealings between Thailand and a number of foreign countries.
The latest round of bilateral free trade negotiations between Thailand and the United States in London hit a serious snag over how much to liberalise the sensitive finance sector, one of the negotiators said.
Dr. Narongchai Akraseranee, chairman of the Working Group on FTA Negotiations, reaffirms that Thailand will not speed up the opening of its financial sector because domestic players are not ready for such competition. The Working Group is also concerned about possible capital outflows once liberalisation frees up deposit transactions.
