Thailand and Vietnam tighten trade, security ties at Apec leaders’ meeting
Thailand and Vietnam opened a new chapter in their strategic partnership as their leaders met ahead of this weekend’s Apec summit in Bangkok, the Thai Foreign Ministry said.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha hosted President Nguyen Xuan Phuc at Government House for talks on a broad range of issues around economic, political and security cooperation, according to the ministry.
Both leaders tasked their defence and security agencies to intensify cooperation within existing frameworks to jointly tackle emerging security issues over maritime, cyber and transnational crime, said the ministry statement.
On economic cooperation, the two leaders agreed to tighten ties in all areas, aiming to achieve the bilateral trade target of US$25 billion by 2025. Work will be done to ease import-export procedures, reduce trade barriers, and facilitate cross-border trade and transit of goods to third countries.
Both sides also agreed to cooperate in new areas of economic opportunity, especially the digital economy and green economy in which they have immense potential, the statement added.
The two leaders voiced their commitment to enhancing the Thailand-Vietnam economic partnership through the “Three Connects” strategy focused on supply chains; grassroots economies, especially MSMEs and local businesses; and sustainable growth strategies. Thailand’s strategy for sustainable growth is the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy Model while Vietnam has the Green Growth Strategy.
After the meeting, the two leaders witnessed the signing of five documents, namely the Plan of Action on Implementing the Thailand-Vietnam Strengthened Strategic Partnership 2022 -2027; an agreement on mutual judicial assistance between Thailand and Vietnam; the forging of Thailand’s Khon Kaen and Vietnam’s Da Nang as sister cities; an MoU between the Thai Board of Trade and Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and a bilateral trade and investment facilitation agreement between the Export-Import Bank of Thailand and Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank).
On Thursday, President Phuc opened the Thailand-Vietnam Business Forum with Parliament president and House speaker Chuan Leekpai, who also chairs the Vietnam Friendship Association. President Phuc also oversaw the launch of the “Vietnamese Week in Thailand 2022” exhibition, and the Thailand and Vietnam Cross-border QR Payment Linkage, as well as meeting with the Vietnamese community in Thailand and Thai people of Vietnamese descent.
Full details of the bilateral discussions can be viewed here.
