At a Malaysia-Thailand shared border area. (Source: trektooz.com)Border trade between Malaysia and Thailand increased 30.26 percent to 627.7 billion THB (more than 19 billion USD) last year following the reopening of all nine checkpoints along their shared borders, according to officials.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said export to Malaysia grew 42.62 percent to 346.6 billion THB while import rose 18.44 percent to 281.1 billion THB last year, resulting in a 65.5 billion THB trade surplus.
He said Thailand’s overall border trade in 2021, including transit trade, stood at 1.71 trillion THB, an increase of 30.03 percent year-on-year.
Jurin said the cross-border trade is expected to expand between 5 percent and 7 percent in 2022 to between 1.08 trillion THB and 1.1 trillion THB, driven by global and regional economic recovery.
The Thai government closed its border checkpoints to curb the spread of COVID-19 in March 2020. So far, 48 of the nation's 97 checkpoints, including all nine along the Malaysian border, are in operation./.