Yunnan Province, The Minister of Commerce has successfully helped Thai fruit growers. Both China and Laos have agreed to extend the opening and closing hours of the Mohan-Boten checkpoint to 9:00 p.m. and reduce the delivery time for durian and mangosteen. China: from 5 days to 3 days, allowing quality fresh fruits to reach Chinese consumers faster. If you evaluate this approach well, you may request an additional time extension. Prepare to find avenues to negotiate for the two checkpoints to provide relief for other types of Thai products as well. Mr. Phumtham Wechayachai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Said after inspecting the Mohan Railway Checkpoint for specific fruit products. and listen to information about the freight transport situation through the Mohan Railway Checkpoint From Chinese government agencies and at the Boten checkpoint, Lao PDR, to negotiate to increase business hours to reduce congestion at the checkpoint and thank you for facilitating the transportation of Thai fruit s. From next month onwards, a lot of Thai fruit products will begin to be released to the market. In the past, there have been problems with congestion at the checkpoint. Sometimes it takes up to 5 days to wait for the container to enter China and then come back out of Boten. and the problem of insufficient litter to pick up containers. which is before a lot of fruit production comes out So he came to talk to the Chinese authorities. and discussed with the Governor of Sipsongbanna Autonomous Region Propose to increase the opening and closing hours of the checkpoint from the normal 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Request to increase business hours by another 3 hours to 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. to reduce truck congestion in front of the checkpoint. which was successful China has responded to support. and the issue of narrow entry and exit lanes for trucks. The Mo Han checkpoint has informed that they are improving and expanding the road further from the original 2 lanes (entry-exit vehicle checkpoints) to 12 lanes (6 inboun d lanes, 6 outbound lanes) and asked for help coordinating with Boten and the Lao authorities. It is expected that within 2 years the channel will be completed. In addition, he also discussed with Mr. Onchan Khamphawong, Deputy Provincial Governor of Luang Namtha, Lao PDR, who agreed to increase business hours. This cross-border trade is the biggest point. very important Because it is a channel to enter the southern Chinese market and spread throughout the country. and asked the Lao side to help report traffic conditions around the checkpoint and send it to Thailand every month. in order to be used as information for management which the Lao authorities accepted to consider and has assigned the Department of Foreign Trade to follow up on the expansion of checkpoint business hours. How much will it make the export of fruit along this route more flexible? The Ministry of Commerce The Ministry of Agriculture, Chinese authorities, and Chinese customs have coordinated work together. I think I can solve the probl em well. It will help Chinese consumers eat fresh fruits. Reduce transportation costs It is beneficial to Chinese consumers and if you look at the data in 2023, Thailand shipped fresh, chilled, frozen and dried fruit products worth a total of 6,941.55 million US dollars. Expanded 22.77 percent when compared to the previous year, divided into (1) fresh fruits, total export value of 5,400.75 million US dollars; Expanded 22.30 percent (2) Frozen fruit 764 million USD expanded 52.17 percent and (3) dried fruit 320.89 million USD, contracted 4.39 percent, with China being the number 1 important export market with export value accounting for 89.68 percent of fresh and chilled fruit exports. Thai frozen and dried Mr. Ronarong Poolpipat, Director-General of the Department of Foreign Trade, said after the extension of the opening and closing hours of both checkpoints has moved forward. There will be an evaluation of the response to using the said service again. If the response is good and Thai fruit and vegetable pro ducts can pass through the two checkpoints to reach Chinese consumers quickly, the opening and closing times of the two checkpoints may be extended further. This is because there has already been discussion with both Chinese and Lao executives. In addition, in the future it may be necessary to negotiate with both frontiers further. Because of the guidelines for allowing Thai fruit and vegetable products to enter the checkpoint, there is no problem. But Thailand also has other types of products that must be exported through this checkpoint as well. Especially jasmine rice because the time it takes to release it is still time consuming and time consuming. The three regulatory agencies will continue to discuss in order to grant exemptions for other types of products for Thailand. In addition, the Department of Foreign Trade will speed up negotiations to find markets for exporting live cattle and chilled and frozen meat from Thailand to China. The Chinese market is a target for which Thailand will accelerate exp orts to China as well. Source: Thai News Agency