[Vnbiz] Thais urged to produce in Vietnam for ASEAN free market

[Phan, Tai]

Thais urged to produce in Vietnam for ASEAN free market  
HANOI, Sept 11 (TNA) - Thailand should cease viewing Vietnam as a trade competitor but, instead, look for opportunities to benefit from the country's low labour and manufacturing costs as member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have inched toward establishing a regional free trade zone by 2015, Thailand's ambassador to Vietnam said on Sunday. 

The Thai top envoy to Vietnam, Kittipong Na Ranong, said that socialist-led Vietnam could not match Thailand whose economic growth is still bigger.

He said that as ASEAN member countries have pushed for free trade within the bloc, Vietnam could make a potential production base for Thai goods due to its pool of cheap labour and lower manufacturing overheads. 

''The world has changed so much and countries in Indochina are now well linked through better roads and bridges," he said. "This improved network will help transport goods within ASEAN as the bloc is moving toward a regional free trade market,'' he said. 

The Thai diplomat said that under the terms of the free trade zone, goods produced in one member country could supply consumers across the ASEAN market zone. 

He said Thai entrepreneurs should, therefore, consider moving its production base of certain goods to Vietnam to benefit from cheaper labour and raw materials in the neighbouring country. 

''Besides supplying goods to 84 million consumers in Vietnam, we will also sell to other ASEAN nations under the free trade agreement,'' he said.

But he cautioned that it is necessary to study Vietnamese laws thoroughly regarding foreign investment. 

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. (TNA)--E110, E002