General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nguyen Phu Trong has affirmed that Vietnam welcomes Thai businesses and always tries to its best to facilitate their long-term investment and operation in the country.

Meeting with representatives from leading Thai enterprises in Bangkok on June 26, the Vietnamese Party leader informed them of the CPV and State of Vietnam’s policies on investment attraction and furthering Vietnam-Thailand investment and trade ties.

He suggested the two sides make full use of the Trade Joint Committee mechanism to bolster bilateral trade and investment, including in finance, rice and farm produce production and exports.

General Secretary Trong also said the two sides should enhance coordination between business organisations and the role of the Vietnam-Thailand, Thailand-Vietnam Business Councils in order to tap the great potential of their economic cooperation.

Earlier the same day, the Thammasat University granted an honorary doctorate degree on politics to General Secretary Trong.

As part of the visit, the Party leader toured Chitralada Royal Villa, home to a host of agricultural projects which has helped improved lives of the needy in Thailand, especially those living in rural areas.

Also within the framework of Party General Secretary Trong’s visit, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc received the President of Amata Vikrom Group. The Deputy PM urged the group to expand operations in Vietnam , particularly in hi-tech and the development of smart cities, contributing to lifting two-way trade to 15 billion USD by 2020.

On the afternoon of June 26, Vietnam’s low-cost carrier VietJet Air announced the opening of a direct service to Thailand and signed a memorandum of understanding with Thailand’s Kan Air on establishing an aviation joint-venture in Thailand.-VNA