Agriculture Department and Thai Ambassador push for Thai fruit exports to South Korea

The Department of Agriculture and Thai Ambassador to Seoul meet with South Korean plant quarantine authorities to boost exports of high-value Thai agricultural products.

Rapibhat Chandarasrivongs, Director-General of the Department of Agriculture, and Tanee Sangrat, Thai Ambassador to Seoul, led a delegation to meet with Park Kyung-hee, Acting Director-General of the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA) of South Korea.

The meeting aimed to drive forward the expansion of the Thai agricultural market, including high-value products such as fresh mangoes, pomelos, longans, and green papayas. 

Discussions focused on addressing trade barriers, particularly sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, alongside increasing the export volume of Thai agricultural products to South Korea.

Agriculture Department and Thai Ambassador push for Thai fruit exports to South Korea

The Director-General highlighted the continued cooperation between the two countries in opening new agricultural markets. In 2026, Thailand submitted a request to open the pomelo market in South Korea, while South Korea requested market access for fresh paprika to Thailand.

In 2025, Thailand exported over 31,832 tons of fresh pomelos worth 1.42 billion baht. With South Korea’s approval to import Thai pomelos, exports are expected to increase to about 32,000 tons, valued at approximately 1.5 billion baht.

Additionally, Thailand requested South Korea to consider opening its market to longans and green papayas, both of which are high-potential agricultural products.

This aligns with the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives' "market-driven production" policy. It is expected that by 2026, Thailand will be able to successfully open these markets, with anticipated annual exports of approximately 32,000 tons of pomelos worth 1.5 billion baht, 514,000 tons of longans worth 18.3 billion baht, and 372 tons of fresh papayas worth 30 million baht.

Source: Nation Thailand