Thai Ambassador awarded friendship insignia

Hanoi (VNA) – Thai Ambassador to Vietnam Panyarak Poolthup has been awarded the insignia “For Peace and Friendship among Nations” by the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) for his dedication to Vietnam-Thailand relations.

VUFO President Vu Xuan Hong presented the decoration to Panyakrak Poolthup at a ceremony held in Hanoi on December 15.

Hong spoke of the diplomat’s enthusiasm for strengthening the bilateral ties in recent times.

Thanks to the Thai ambassador’s contributions over the past two years, the ties have expanded in multiple fields, notably security-defence, trade and investment.

Two-way trade hit 10.6 billion USD last year, a year-on year rise of 12.5 percent. Thailand ranked 10th among 101 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 374 projects worth a total 6.69 billion USD by March 2015.

The two countries held their third Joint Cabinet Meeting in July this year which has produced fruitful outcomes.

Relations between the Vietnam-Thailand and Thailand-Vietnam Friendship Associations have achieved remarkable progress since the their first joint meeting in 2010.

They organised the sixth joint meeting last month where the two sides reached consensus on the implementation of joint programmes in 2016, the year the two nations celebrate the 40th founding anniversary of their diplomatic ties.-VNA