Thailand, Peru clinch upgraded FTA after 10-year stall

Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun said the Department of Trade Negotiations had reported significant progress in talks to upgrade the Thailand–Peru Free Trade Agreement. She said both sides had reached a substantive conclusion on the agreement’s core issues, with only minor technical matters still under discussion. Those remaining points are being expedited towards a final resolution, paving the way to conclude the long-running upgrade negotiations.

Suphajee said the outcome reflects both countries’ shared commitment to advancing economic and trade cooperation in a concrete way, and would be welcome news for businesses and the public in both countries ahead of the end of 2025.

Negotiations on the Thailand–Peru FTA had been stalled for more than 10 years before both sides resumed and accelerated discussions from mid-2024.

Suphajee said momentum increased after she held bilateral talks with Peru’s ambassador to Thailand in late October, and later met Peru’s minister responsible for foreign trade in Gyeongju, South Korea, during an APEC meeting in early November.

Those engagements, she said, helped drive both sides towards concluding the FTA upgrade within 2025, and the two sides have now achieved a meaningful conclusion in line with that goal.

In essence, both sides have agreed on the agreement’s main elements, including further market opening and key areas of trade cooperation. These cover improved access for goods and services, as well as rules that underpin trade and investment facilitation, aimed at modernising the agreement in line with the global economic environment and supporting long-term business operations.

Suphajee said Peru is an economy with strong potential in South America, with strengths in natural resources, agriculture and food industries, mining, and a strategic role as a gateway to markets across South America and the Pacific coast.

Concluding the upgraded FTA, she said, will help Thai businesses expand markets, diversify supply chains, and deepen economic links between Thailand and South America. Consumers and businesses in both countries are also expected to benefit from a trade environment that supports competition and growth.

As next steps, after the substantive conclusion, both sides will continue discussions on the remaining technical issues and carry out legal scrubbing to ensure the text is clear, accurate and consistent across all language versions. Each side will then proceed with its respective domestic approval processes.

Trade between Thailand and Peru during January–October 2025 saw Peru ranked as Thailand’s 60th trading partner (and 5th in South America, after Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Colombia). Thailand is Peru’s top trading partner in ASEAN.

Total bilateral trade stood at US$464.04 million, with Thailand recording a trade surplus of US$239.96 million. Thailand’s exports to Peru were worth US$352 million, led by automobiles and parts, canned and processed seafood, and washing machines and dryers and parts.

Imports from Peru were worth US$112.04 million, led by fresh, chilled, frozen and processed seafood, other metal ores, metal scrap and related products, and vegetables, fruit and processed fruit and vegetable products such as blueberries and avocados.