Russia Agrees To Tariff Reduction For

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SANTIAGO, Nov. 21 (TNA) - Russia agreed to reduce a tariff for imports of Thai frozen chicken by 20 percent during a bilateral trade meeting between leaders of the two countries on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation being held in this Chilean capital.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said after his talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin that his counterpart agreed to give Thailand the tariff reduction instead of offering a quota as Russia has never imported Thai chicken before.

Mr. Thaksin said he also discussed the implementation on its barter scheme to trade chicken for Russian army planes and expected a progress be made by next month.

''We cannot let our poultry go bankrupt. If the business gets worse, it would take us longer time to recover and would wreck our farmers, and other related businesses. Putting our chicken into the barter system would save our poultry. And coincidentally, our army at the moment needs develop ment as it has lacked a budget to improve itself after the country hit by the economic crisis,'' he said

''Russia has got Sukhoi 30 mk which is a popular model for army planes and Russia has offered to trade them with Thai frozen chicken which we have more than 100,000 tons in stock. If we could agree primarily on our conditions, we would then hold a further talk on technical issues with Russian foreign minister who would visit next month and we would ask the commander of the Royal Thai Air Force to join the discussion,'' said Mr. Thaksin.

Meanwhile, Mr. Anuthin Charnveerakul, the deputy commerce minister said Russia also agreed to cut its tariffs on other Thai goods. He said even though Thailand has asked for tariff reduction for over 1,000 kinds of goods but Russia agreed to only 107 types of goods.

''However, this would help Thai goods to become more competitive in Russian markets,'' he said.

The two countries would also discuss further on tariff on Thai raw sugar, he said, as they could not agree on conditions this time.

''Russia has allowed Thai businessmen to invest in spa and restaurants in the country. But they have to hire local workers,'' said the Thai deputy commerce minister.

According to Sansanee Nakapong, the deputy government spokesperson, the Russian president has also invited Her Majesty the Queen to visit his country next year.(TNA)-E110