BANGKOK, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- A senior official from the Thai Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday told reporters that he is worried that the continuing strong Thai baht currency will again affect Thailand's border trade with Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
Last year, Thailand missed the target of cross-border trade volume due mainly to the baht appreciation; this year the baht has not weakened, said Keerati Rushchano, said director-general of the ministry's Foreign Trade Department.
The border trade in 2019 totaled 1.33 trillion baht (43.1 billion U.S. dollars), a 3.43 percent drop, he added.
Other than the strengthening of the Thai baht, global economic slowdown, trade frictions and overall volatile foreign exchange have also weighed in on Thailand's border trade, Keerati said.
Of the total figures, exports from Thailand accounted for 750 billion baht (24.3 billion U.S. dollars), down 2.72 percent from the previous year, while imports were worth 587 billion baht (19 billion U.S. dollars), down 4.31 percent, said the senior official.
