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Thailand Law Journal 2009 Fall Issue 2 Volume 12

  • financial services and banking: Australia will permit the Thai central bank and government monetary institutions to invest in Australia at interest without providing an assurance to the Reserve Bank that it will be a stable holder or the Australian dollar or that it will consult the Reserve Bank in the event of a significant change in its Australian dollar profile.
  • education services: Australia will permit Thai cooking training, Thai language training and training in Thai traditional massage through training institutes
  • transport services: Australia will permit Thai to acssess in air amnd marine time service, for example, in air service provide it will allow ground-handling services, including airport operation services, cargo handling and other supporting services for air transport and in marine time service, and in marine time sevice, it will permit Thai international maritime operators non-discriminatory access to tug assistance and fuelling at Australian ports, and reasonable and non-discriminatory rights to have their cargoes on-forwarded from ports using other modes of transport
  • automotive repair services: Australia will permit Thai service suppliers who  provide the sevice of reparing automitve ?114

As seen in the information from DFAT commitmrnt for TAFTA above, Australian government has to open for  the assesing of service for Thai invesment. It, therefore, has to state that Thai service secters that views to invest in Australan market can draw the benefit from this Australian commitment in TAFTA. Moreover, from the Australian commitment and TAFTA, the Australian immigration law has to be changed in case the entry  of  Thais business persons. Australia government will grant special period for thais who will enter into Australia with the purpose of doing business. The commitment from Australian government is that  Australia will permit the temporary entry of Thai citizens without labour market testing in the following circumstances:

  1. ?business visitors will be permitted to enter and stay for up to three months
  2. service sellers will be permitted to enter and stay initially for six months, with a maximum stay of 12 months
  3. intra-corporate transferees will be permitted to enter and stay initially for up to four years with a total of up to ten years
  4. contractual service suppliers will be permitted to enter and stay for up to three years. Specialist Thai chefs entering as contractual service suppliers will be permitted to enter and stay for up to four years
  5. independent executives will be permitted to enter and stay initially for up to four years
  6. spouses and dependants of intra-corporate transferees will be permitted to enter stay and work for the period of the intra-corporate transferee?s visa?115

It can be seen,  from DEFAT commitment above, that the providing period of Thai business persons to visiting Australia is the significant benefit for Thai citizents. The restricted rules of granting VISA for Thais business persons have to be reduced from the commitment. In the exchange purpose, Thaland government will grant Australian persons who are in the ececutive, manageral, and professional position  positions the special treaments of the period of working in Thailand. The special treatments are

  1. ? Thailand will grant a visa and work permit for up to five years' stay for all Australian citizens being transferred to work in Thailand within the same company (to be renewable annually) (previously one year).
  2. Thailand will grant a visa and work permit for up to three years' stay for all Australian citizens entering Thailand to work on the basis of a contract with an Australian or Thai company other than their employer in Australia (to be renewable annually) (previously one year).
  3. Thailand will not require a work permit for Australian citizens who are business visitors conducting business meetings in Thailand for up to 15 days, and up to 90 days for APEC Travel Card Holders.
  4. Thailand will consider applications for visas and work permits submitted by an employer on an applicant's behalf and advise in advance of approval and (with visa to be granted on arrival subject to identity verification).
  5. Thailand will permit all Australian business visitors access to the one-stop visa and work permit service (previously restricted to visitors representing or employed by major investors).
  6. Thailand will permit all Australians who hold work permits to participate in business meetings anywhere in Thailand, including locations not specified in their work permits (previous work permits had to be changed if any work was to be conducted in a location not specified in the permit).
  7. Thailand will reduce the number of documents required from Australians for work permits and renewals and work permits.?116

The commitments from Thai government will impact on its Immigration Law. Thai government, under the obligation of commitment of TAFTA, has to decrease the strict rules for the Australian business persons who work or will work in Thailand.
It has to be state, by relying on the information of comittments from Australia and Thailand, that the exchange of commitments has impact greatly on the rules of  forign invesment, entry of business persons in both parties of TAFTA. There will be the significant change of the immigation law in part of  the treatment for the business persons for both countries. The law that prohibits Thais and Australians in  holding  shares of coperation will be will be changed that ,from the commitment, it will provide more amount of occupying coporate share for international persons that have invested or will invest in both countries   The impact from commitment on sevice and invesment of  TAFTA will established the  facilitation of the invesment between Australia and Thailand.

Impact on the economy of both countries

In the topic of the impact of TAFTA in economy of Thailand and Australia, the reseach will provide the impact by relying on the study of TAFTA from Center for International Economics.117 The Center adopted the Asia Pacific G-Cubed (APCubed) model18 for analysing the impact of economy from TAFTA.

Gains from Immediate Implementation of an Australia-Thai Free Trade Agreement  
Net present value 2002 $US billiona

Source: Centre for International Economic

114. DFAT commitment on service and investment ( Annex 8 of TAFTA)

115. Ibid

116.  DTN and DFAT

This article is published with the kind permission of Pornchai Wisuttisak, current PhD candidate, School of Business Law and Taxation, ASB, University of New South Wales, Master of Commercial Law, Macquarie University, BA, Political Science, Thammasat University, Thailand. This article originally appeared in the Thailand and Australia Free trade agreement (TAFTA): The advantage pace of foreign investment of both countries.

 

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