The Thai Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday said in a media brief that Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that Thailand has signed with others countries have made the country the world's 6th biggest exporter of fruits.
Despite the reduction in global fruit exports, Thai fruit exports were growing steadily as current consumers expressed interests in healthy nutrition. furthermore, FTAs offer tariff reduction, said Auramon Supthaweethum, director general of Thailand's Department of Trade Negotiations.
Thailand's FTAs with China, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Peru and China's Hong Kong have led to zero tax on Thai frozen fruits, said Auramon. "However, other FTA partners including Japan have either waived or reduced tariffs on most Thai fruit products."
Auramon said that in the first 10 months of 2019, Thailand became the sixth biggest fruit exporter, up from the 10th position last year.
Now Thailand follows Spain, the Netherlands, Mexico, the United States and Chile, she said.
Thailand's fruit exports from January to October were valued at 3.21 billion U.S. dollars, up by 41 percent year-on-year.
Thailand's main markets are Southeast Asian nations and China.
Fruit exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China were estimated at 2.69 billion U.S. dollars and formed 84 percent of all Thai fruit exports during the first 10 months of 2019.
The director general said that popular Thai fruits include durian, mangosteen and longan.
She said that Thailand is the biggest exporter of these tropical fruits.