Participants at the forum pose for photo (Photo: VNA) Vietnamese and Thai enterprises should sincerely cooperate and actively share experiences and resources towards the success of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which is scheduled to take shape later this year.
Chairman of the Thailand-Vietnam Friendship Association Prachuap Chaiyasan, who is also the former Thai Foreign Minister, made the statement at a forum in Bangkok on October 9, adding that the intensification of their economic partnership will help attract more foreign investment into ASEAN and tap into natural and human resources of the bloc’s members.
Chairman of the Vietnam-Thailand Friendship Association Ta Quang Ngoc noted the forum was a platform for the two sides to discuss opportunities and challenges to boost cooperation, helping to energise economic growth of the countries as well as the entire region.
He stressed Thailand is currently Vietnam’s top ASEAN trading partner with two-way trade hoped to reach 20 billion USD by 2020. Their commercial activities will contribute to the development of the AEC, which has a combined population of 600 million and gross domestic product (GDP) of around 3 trillion USD.
In his speech, Chairman of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association Luong Van Tu clarified that bilateral cooperation will help create an optimum investment and trade environment in ASEAN and promote the regional businesses’ competitiveness over non-ASEAN firms.
The nations need to address barriers regarding policies, development level and the size of their economies so as to build a prosperous community, he said.
Meanwhile, President of the Thailand-Vietnam Business Council Sanan Angubolkul pledged his council will do its utmost to assist the two business cricles in dealing with legal procedure, seeking opportunities and advising the Governments about business-favourable policies.
At the forum, participating enterprises gave opinions on and raised questions about policies and procedures in such fields as mining, consumer goods, services, pharmaceuticals and waste treatment. More than 200 companies also succeeded in seeking business partners.-VNA
