Oil prices raise Thai-UAE trade

Dubai: Thailand's trade with the UAE is expected to grow 70 per cent this year as high oil prices inflate Bangkok's import bill.

Ninety per cent of Thailand's imports from the UAE consist of oil and aluminium and the country sees the value of imports rising to $2.5 billion this year compared to $1.7 billion in 2005.

Thai exports to the UAE, valued $1.1 billion in 2005, are expected to increase 30 per cent this year.

Dubai-based Thai Trade Centre director Wittaya-korn Maneenetr told Gulf News Thailand was keen to boost its exports.

Thailand's main exports are auto parts, air conditioning units and parts, construction material and food products.

In the first seven months of 2006, Thailand exported goods worth $850 million, while imports from the UAE amounted to $1.7 billion.

"We are seeing a big increase in the value of our imports because of high oil prices. We expect our imports from the UAE to reach $2.5 billion this year. We need to work hard to increase our exports to the UAE," Maneenetr said at the four-day Thailand Exhibition, which opened in Dubai on Sunday.

"At this trade fair, we are focusing on the construction sector because of high demand for building materials in the UAE," Maneenetr said.

He said Thai companies offering services in architecture, property management, engineering design and building maintenance are also keen to enter the UAE real estate market.

Intertrade Asia Company Limited, a Bangkok-based firm supplying building materials, furniture and interior decoration products, is in the process of setting up an office and showroom in Dubai.

Intertrade chairman Somsak Yamasmit said the company hopes to start operations in the city in about two months.

"We have so many products that are in demand due to the current high-level of construction activity in Dubai," he said.

Thailand takes part in 12 UAE trade exhibitions in various sectors each year.

There are about 80 Thai companies operating in the UAE.