Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City’s People Committee Le Hoang Quan and President of the Thailand-Vietnam Friendship Association (TVFA) Prachuab Chaiyasan have agreed that strengthening diplomacy and people-to-people exchange are significant in developing the friendship between Vietnam and Thailand.

Prachuab Chaiyasan held that in order to boost bilateral ties, it is necessary to foster their links in three levels, including the government, at a local level and people during his meeting with the municipal leader on October 28.

Vietnam and Thailand have already lifted their relations to a strategic partnership, but there is a long way to go in connecting localities and peoples of both sides, he noted.

In the future, the association will exert greater efforts to organise more activities to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, he added.

Sharing Prachuab Chaiyasan’s opinion, Quan said the stepping up of cooperation between localities and people of both sides is crucial to the development of the traditional friendship between the two countries who are now strategic partners.

He also spoke highly of the TVFA’s activities over the past years, saying that the association has made important contributions to the friendship between the two countries.

The city leader said Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok are finalising procedures to twin the two cities.

Ho Chi Minh City will also do its utmost to support Thai businesses and investors as well as the Thai community to live and work in the city, he affirmed.-VNA