EU-Thailand FTA vital to rule-based global trade, says Swedish trade chief

Marking the 30th anniversary of Thailand and Sweden’s joint membership in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Anders Ahnlid, director-general of the Swedish National Board of Trade, emphasised Sweden’s unwavering support for a rules-based trading system in a recent opinion piece.

According to the Bangkok Post, the multilateral trading framework — rooted in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and continued under the WTO — has underpinned international trade for nearly 80 years. Both Thailand and Sweden share a longstanding commitment to this rules-based system.

However, Ahnlid noted with concern that the United States has moved away from using WTO rules as a reference point in its trade policy, raising the risk that more countries could follow suit and erode the global trading order.

“Hopefully, this critical situation will serve to clarify minds and priorities when we enter the final phase of EU-Thailand FTA negotiations. We should never let a good crisis go to waste,” he remarked.

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