NONTHABURI:Thailand’s exports expanded by 9.9 per cent year-on-year on average last year, the highest level in six years, due to growing economies and purchasing power of trading partners, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported, told Bernama.

Pimchanok Vonkorpon, Director-General of Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO), under the Ministry of Commerce, told journalists on Monday, that if oil-based and gold-based products were excluded, the country’s exports even grew by 10 per cent year-on-year on average.

This was despite the appreciation of the Thai baht, cushioning the country’s trade surplus to about US$13.93 billion.

Pimchanok stated that the value of Thai exports totalled about US$236.96 billion in 2017, 549 of which was the value of Thai rice exports alone, representing up to 11 per cent year-on-year increase, although Thai exports of sugar and frozen fresh shrimps dropped due to declining prices on the world market and domestic supply.

The TPSO chief projected, meanwhile, that Thai exports should further grow by another five to seven per cent year this year.