Visitors to a Thai goods fair in Vietnam (Photo: VNA) In her opening remarks, Le Thi Thu Hang, Assistant tothe Foreign Minister and Director of the Foreign Ministry’s Press - InformationDepartment, said Thailand is the largest trading partner of Vietnam in ASEANand also the biggest export market of Vietnam in this bloc. It ranks ninthamong foreign investors in Vietnam, which in turn is the second largest tradingpartner of Thailand in ASEAN.
The two countries have dynamic economies and sharesimilarities in consumption habits, products and services, so they still havemuch room for further promoting bilateral trade and cooperation in other areassuch as energy, logistics, finance, agriculture and investment.
Besides, she noted, the role, stature and prestige of theVietnamese community in Thailand have been growing. The size and number oftheir enterprises and business establishments, as well as the industries theyare operating in, are also growing. The community has contributed to not onlythe homeland but also the host country, thereby serving as a friendship bridgebetween Vietnam and Thailand.
Affirming the importance that the Party and Stateattach to OVs, Hang expressed her hope that the OV entrepreneurs in Thailand willconsider expanding the distribution of Vietnamese goods there and help attractquality investment from Thailand to the homeland.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand Phan Chi Thanh saidthere are about 1,000 businesses of OVs, mainly small and medium-sized firms, operating in many sectors in Thailand. Many of them have gained successes, and some haveexpanded operations to other countries, including Vietnam.
The countries’ leaders targeted bilateral trade at 25billion USD by 2025, from 19.5 billion USD in 2021. The figure stood at 5 billion USD in 2022. Therefore, there remains huge room forinvestment and trade ties, and the target is achievable if locality-to-localityand business-to-business connections are promoted, he said.
At the forum, the Vietnam Association of Small andMedium Enterprises and the Thai - Vietnamese Entrepreneurs Association signed acooperation agreement. About 20 cooperation deals were also inked by the twosides’ businesses in different industries, including garment, tourism -hospitality, and high-tech agriculture.
From July 3 to 10, the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamesecoordinated with the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand to organise a programmeconnecting OV entrepreneurs in Thailand with five localities, namely Da Nang,Quang Nam, Kien Giang, Ho Chi Minh City and Bac Giang./.
VNA
