Thai businesses eye opportunities in Vietnam
The potential of boosting trade and investment ties between Thailand and Vietnam is huge because economic links between the two countries have been expanding rapidly, a forum was told.
Speaking at the Thailand-HCM City Business Connection Forum on Friday in HCM City, Vo Van Hoan, deputy chair of the People’s Committee, said the city has been one of Thailand’s leading investment partners for years.
Thais have invested more than US$482 million in 235 projects as of last year, making Thailand HCM’s 12th largest FDI partner out of 116 countries and territories.
Most investments in the city were in chemical, food, construction materials, tourism, warehousing and logistics industries.
Last year, trade between Thailand and HCM City came in at more than $2.8 billion.
Vietnam’s ambassador to Thailand, Phan Chi Thanh, said the Vietnamese business communities overseas played a vital role in boosting trade and investment ties between the two countries.
Around 1,000 businesses are owned by Vietnam nationals in Thailand, most of them small or medium-sized and in a wide range of sectors, he said.
Many of them have been expanding their business in Vietnam, but their number is modest compared to Thai-owned businesses investing in the country, he said.
He said a distribution network of high-quality products from Vietnam should be set up in Thailand and reciprocated in HCM City.
Ho Van Lam, chairman of the Thailand- Vietnam Business Association, said trade, investment and tourism promotion events should be regularly organised in Thailand to foster trade and investment exchanges with overseas Vietnamese and Thai businesses.
Nguyen Van Minh, a Vietnamese entrepreneur based in Bangkok, said Thai products are being increasingly consumed in Vietnam but the reverse is not true.
The overseas Vietnamese business community is a good channel to help expand the distribution of Vietnamese goods in Thailand, he said.
Thai businesses are seeking long-term cooperation with businesses in HCM City in fields such as high-tech agriculture, digital transformation, education and tourism, he added.
Thailand has become Vietnam’s biggest trading partner in Asean and the 9th-largest foreign investor in Vietnam with more than 600 projects worth more than $13 billion.
Trade between the two countries was worth $5 billion in the first quarter of this year, with plans to boost it to $25 billion by 2025.
Viet Nam News
Asia News Network
Asia News Network: The Nation (Thailand), The Korea Herald, The Straits Times (Singapore), China Daily, Jakarta Post, The Star and Sin Chew Daily (Malaysia), The Statesman (India), Philippine Daily Inquirer, Yomiuri Shimbun and The Japan News, Gogo Mongolia, Dawn (Pakistan), The Island (Sri Lanka), Kuensel (Bhutan), Kathmandu Post (Nepal), Daily Star (Bangladesh), Eleven Media (Myanmar), The Phnom Penh Post and Rasmei Kampuchea (Cambodia), The Borneo Bulletin (Brunei), Vietnam News, and Vientiane Times (Laos).
