Chile, Thailand sign free trade agreement

Chile and Thailand signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Friday which immediately lifted tariffs on more than 90 percent of Chilean products to be exported to the Asian country, the Chilean government said in a statement.

The FTA was signed in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, by visiting Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Xinhua reported citing the statement issued here.

"For Chilean exporters, this will mean an access in preferential conditions to a market of more than 70 million people," the statement quoted Pinera as saying.

"The inking of this trade agreement will be a new source of opportunities for both countries."

Thailand will also gain a better competitive edge after signing the FTA, with products including automobiles, canned seafood, processed food, canned fruit, electrical appliances, rubber products, and cement, among others, benefiting from the trade deal.

The bilateral FTA negotiations began in April 2011 in Bangkok. It is part of Chile's efforts to approach the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.

The FTA with Thailand will be the fifth one Chile has signed with an ASEAN member country.