Frangos que têm a "gripe das aves"...
Thai PM insists on chicken swap for Swede jet deal
STOCKHOLM, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told his Swedish counterpart on Thursday that Thailand would only buy Swedish fighter jets for its air force if Sweden agrees to buy agricultural products in exchange.
Though he did not specify, Thaksin appeared to be referring to Thailand's vast stocks of poultry stricken by bird-flu. Thai officials said earlier this month the prime minister would try to arrange a chicken-for-jets swap during his Swedish visit.
"We are very cautious about current account so we prefer to arrange counter-trade instead of cash up-front to buy," Thaksin told reporters in Stockholm after meeting Prime Minister Goran Persson. "So if Sweden needs some products, especially agricultural products, then we prefer to arrange that."
Sweden's Saab is eager to secure a contract to sell about 20 Jas 39 Gripen fighters, made with Britain's BAE Systems, to the Thai air force and Thaksin said he was ready to buy "whenever the Swedish company can deliver."
But Persson said at a joint news conference with Thaksin that he could only provide the right political conditions for such a deal by improving bilateral economic relations via a new bilateral working group on trade.
"How they should arrange that is not up to the Swedish government, it's up to Saab," he said. "But we are ready to give political support to Saab."
Owe Wagermark, spokesman for the Saab/BAE joint venture Gripen International, said the meeting in Stockholm showed "that Thailand is really interested in Gripen and plans to get the ball rolling."
09/23/04 20:18
Swedish PM Rejects Jets-For-Chicken Trade
MATTIAS KAREN
Associated Press
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The Swedish government cannot negotiate a deal with Thailand to trade jet fighters for raw chicken meat, Prime Minister Goeran Persson said Thursday.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who met with Persson in the Swedish capital Thursday, told Thai media earlier this week he hoped to broker a poultry-for-planes deal with Sweden, as his country's chicken exports have suffered badly from a bird flu outbreak.
Persson said he would love to see the JAS 39 Gripen jet fighter sold to Thailand, but that it was up to Saab, the aircraft maker, to negotiate the terms.
"I realize the Thai Prime Minister always makes deals that are extremely keen on the current economic situation," Persson told reporters during a joint news conference with Thaksin.
"But how they should arrange (a deal) is not up to the Swedish government, it's up to the commercial partner, Saab," he said. "We will try to figure out which conditions we should have, state to state, for Saab to make a commercial deal."
Thaksin reiterated his hopes for agricultural products to be used as currency.
"We would prefer to have a countertrade, instead of paying cash up front," Thaksin said. If Sweden should have a need for chickens or other agricultural products, "then that can be arranged, easily."
Thaksin did not say how many jet fighters Thailand wants to buy.
A Saab spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
Thailand, among the top four poultry exporters in the world, has been badly hit by two outbreaks of avian influenza that killed 28 people in Asia this year, including nine in Thailand. Thaksin said earlier this week that the country has a huge inventory of raw chicken meat stored in warehouses.
"My government will do whatever to help chicken farmers sell their chicken meat," he told Thailand's state-owned Channel 9.
Thaksin has also tried to trade chickens for arms with Russia.
Sweden has previously sold or leased Jas 39 Gripen planes several other countries, including the Czech Republic and Hungary
Cá para mim eles querem é despachar os frangos
Além que assim o negócio fica em 14M€ por Gripen, o que é muitooooo barato ...
