Thailand and India were close to concluding a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by 2010, the Prime Minister of Thailand, Surayud Chulanont was quoted by dpa as saying Tuesday. The Indo-Thai partnership was the outcome of the synergy between India's "look East" policy and Thailand's "Look West" policy, he added. Addressing the India-Thailand Business Summit organized by India's apex business bodies, Surayud said: "Our two countries are on track to conclude an FTA in near future, with a view to establishing the FTA covering trade in goods by 2010." Surayud, who is on a three-day visit to India also announced the launch of the India-Thailand FTA Roadshow to develop business opportunities. The roadshow will be staged in major Indian cities and will be led by Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Sawanit Kongsir and a group of prominent Thai investors from June 28 to July 4. Surayud stressed the importance of the proposed FTA and said that since the elimination of tariffs on 82 items under the early harvest scheme of limited FTA in 2004, bilateral trade has jumped to 3.4 billion dollars last year. The agreed target of 4 billion dollars by 2007 is likely to be achieved, he said.
