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Reviewing Agricultural Trade Policies

To Promote Intra-OIC Agricultural Trade

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Table 4. 49 Distribution of Thailand’s Top 5 Import Products, by Origin, %

African group

Asian group

Arab group

Non-OIC

Countries

Total

2008

0.7

11.8

0.6

87.0

100

2009

0.2

10.5

1.3

88.1

100

2010

0.2

9.0

0.9

89.9

100

2011

0.1

8.7

0.7

90.5

100

2012

0.3

8.5

0.5

90.7

100

2013

0.2

9.7

0.6

89.5

100

2014

0.2

9.8

0.6

89.4

100

2015

0.2

8.3

1.1

90.5

100

2016

1.4

8.3

0.7

89.6

100

Source: CEPII BACI, Eurostat RAMON, UN Comtrade, UN Trade Statistics, and authors’ calculations

Among the top 5 destination countries for Thailand’s top 5 agricultural export products, top two

are both OIC and ASEAN members, namely Malaysia and Indonesia with a total share of 42.1

percent (Table 4.50). It is followed by Benin, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, with shares below 10

percent, showing that apart the first two countries mentioned, the export markets of Thailand

within the OIC are also diversified.

Table 4. 50 Top 5 OIC Destination Countries for Thailand’s Top 5 Export Products

Importer OIC country

Value of agricultural exports

to the country, million USD,

last 3-year average

% share in total agricultural

exports to the OIC countries,

last 3-year average

Malaysia

1,392.4

24.7

Indonesia

981.5

17.4

Benin

451.5

8.0

Nigeria

286.0

5.1

Saudi Arabia

226.7

4.0

Source: CEPII BACI, Eurostat RAMON, UN Comtrade, UN Trade Statistics, and authors’ calculations

The top two countries as origin of the Thailand agricultural imports are also the same with the

other three being totally different, namely Pakistan, Maldives, Niger (Table 4.51). The share of

the first two countries being 76.1 percent reflects a much higher concentration than the

agricultural exports of the country. However the total value of the top 5 import products is lower

than 1 billion USD, thus the concentration does not mean a concern for Thailand.

4.5.2. Agricultural Trade Policies in Thailand

Background

Thailand is a founding member of ASEAN, comprising 10 countries in the region.

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Founded in

1967 as an association between Southeastern Asian Nations, ASEAN is currently one of the most

successful and large trading blocs in the world and it is moving ahead towards greater economic

integration, Thailand closely follows the trading bloc in signing the bilateral free trade

agreements (FTAs). Currently, Thailand is part of free trade agreements with 48 countries

worldwide, including 20 OIC member countries (Algeria, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Brunei

Darussalam, Cameroon, Egypt, Guinea, Guyana, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco,

Mozambique, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tunisia) (WTO, RTA-IS).

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Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.