March 18, 2008
BANGKOK - Commerce Minister Mingkwan Saengsuwan yesterday met with a top US trade official in a small first step toward resuming free trade talks that were placed on hold after a military coup.
Mingkwan met with Barbara Weisel, the assistant US trade representative for Southeast Asia, at the prime minister's office.
"The meeting focused on three main topics, including US interest in new investments in Thailand, US exports to Thailand, and maintaining a good Thai-US trade relationship," Mingkwan told reporters after the meeting.
The United States is Thailand's biggest trade partner.
The free trade talks faced delays during former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
However, both parties did not discuss the generic drugs programme.
Thailand has issued the so-called compulsory licenses suspending patent protections for expensive treatments for AIDS, cancer and heart disease.
Disagreements over pharmaceuticals were a major sticking point in earlier free trade talks between Thailand and the United States, according to AFP.
