A Perspective Study On Factors Affecting International Trade Competitiveness Of Thai Agricultural Product

Agriculture plays a crucial role in contributing to the overall growth of Thailand's economy,as it is still the country's main source of earning and rural income.Most of Thailand's populations still rely on agriculture sector as the major production.Agriculture production has steadily improved over the years making the value of Thailand's agriculture products to rise throughout the world and maintaining its position as one of the world's leading exporters of many agricultural products.To sustain and enhance the competitiveness of Thailand's agricultural products,Thai government has always placed the importance of agricultural sector as one of the four national agendas.Although in recent years,Thailand's economy has concentrated and shifted to a higher value-added manufacturing and service sector,many product exports are still aggregated in agricultural sector.This dissertation attempts to evaluate the factors that affect Thailand's agricultural international trade competitiveness and to discover the correlation among them.A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods was adopted to reach the objective of this dissertation.The author first introduces and gives an overview of Thailand's agricultural trade development and structure to get a clear understanding of Thailand's agricultural top import/export countries and commodities before going to in-depth analysis of the five main agricultural products.Different competitiveness measurements index such as Revealed Comparative Advantage,Market Share,Trade Competitiveness were used to analyze the competitiveness of each product.The five main agricultural products are rice,natural rubber,cassava,prepared poultry,and fresh fruits.The empirical analysis was conducted as the main research methodology using econometric panel data analysis.The empirical regression results have predominantly proved to show a strong significant between the coefficient variable and six observed countries' export competitiveness.The chosen factor variables such as production,export price,import value,area harvest,agricultural GDP,exchange rate,agriculture employment,and foreign direct investment all have strong linkage correlation with Thailand's agricultural competitiveness.Production quantity,area harvest,agricultural GDP,agricultural employment,foreign direct investment all have shown a positive correlation with export competitiveness.Similarly,reduction in export price and import value along with depreciation in currency exchange rate can enhance international trade and improve export competiveness.For Thailand to sustain its agricultural trade competitiveness in the global market,the author has given personal recommendations that could be beneficial and useful for further studies.Increasing agricultural productivity,expansion of FDI in agricultural sector,corrective measures by the government are a few that could help escalate the competitiveness of Thailand's agricultural products.