The third Joint Trade Committee meeting in the capital between Bhutan and Thailand ended today. The high-level meeting reviewed the decisions taken during the last trade meeting to further enhance the bilateral relations in trade, investment and economic cooperation between the two countries.
The meeting also reinforced the implementation of the Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement signed between Thailand and Bhutan in 2013.
The committee came up with a work plan to collaborate more in the area of promoting export of agriculture products, handicrafts, branding of small and medium enterprises and assistance in developing a single window. A single window is a facility that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardized information and documents with a single entry point to fulfil all import, export and transit-related regulatory requirements.
“Given the trade between our two countries, it has been growing. Though if we look into the trade figure, it might not be very promising. But understanding that Bhutan’s economy is very small, this is something big for us because we are a country with a very small population and a small economy,” said Loknath Sharma, the Economic Affairs Minister.
The bilateral trade between the two countries has grown steadily over the years with total trade accounting to Nu 1.10bn last year. The Economic Affairs Ministry initiated the first meeting of the Joint Trade Committee in 2016 to explore opportunities for increasing and diversifying mutual trade and economic relations between the two countries.
The bilateral relations between Bhutan and Thailand began in 1989.
Sonam Pem
