Vietnam and Thailand are striving to bring their two-way trade to 15 billion USD by 2020 as the former becomes an attractive destination for Thai visitors and the latter is the ninth largest tourism market for Vietnamese.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand Ngo Duc Thang made the statement at a seminar held in Bangkok on September 25.

The seminar, entitled "Thailand-Vietnam Strategic Partnership: Towards a New Era of Economic Relations", was co-hosted by the Thai Foreign Ministry, the Thailand-Vietnam Friendship Association and the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand.

He said Vietnam has been integrating deeper in the regional and international economy after becoming the 150th member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in year 2007.

Vietnam has proven itself as an attractive destination for foreign investment, he said, citing that last year, the country attracted more than 1,200 new investment projects worth over 16.3 billion USD in total. The figure in the first eight months of this year was nearly 12.63 billion USD.

The ambassador highlighted recent improvements in Vietnam’s legal system, saying that the country has established a transparent and homogeneous legal framework that provides an equal playing ground for both national and foreign businesses.

He affirmed that his embassy is willing to assist Thai investors who want to seek business and investment opportunities in Vietnam.

According to President of the Thailand-Vietnam Friendship Association Prachuab Chaiyasan, the Thailand-Vietnam relationship is now in the golden age with expanded cooperation in all fields, ranging from security and defence to culture and education.

The recent visit to Thailand by General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong marked an important milestone in bilateral ties as the two sides declared to set up a strategic partnership, he said.

The establishment of the strategic partnership has elevated the two countries’ relationship to a new height, making it one of the important pillars that strongly support the foundation of the ASEAN Community by 2015, he added.

Two-way trade between Vietnam and Thailand reached nearly 10 billion USD. Thailand in 2012. Thailand is one of the top ten investors in Vietnam with 315 investment projects capitalised at 6.4 billion USD.-VNA