Vietnam and Thailand target 20 percent annual growth in trade, hoping to increase it to 15 billion USD by 2020, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry said.

At a Vietnam – Thailand Business Meeting held in Ho Chi Minh City on May 14, Nguyen The Hung, Deputy Director of the VCCI's HCM City chapter, said last year Thailand became Vietnam's biggest trade partner in ASEAN after trade growth rose 9 percent to 9.4 billion USD.

In January this year he said trade was worth 1.4 billion USD of which Vietnam's exports - mostly mobile phones and accessories, steel, and seafood - accounted for nearly 500 million USD.

Its main imports from Thailand were machinery, oil and gas, auto parts, animal feed, and pharmaceuticals.

Hung said the two countries have great untapped potential in trade, and many promotional programmes have been organised with an eye on this.

For instance, a delegation of 10 Thai food companies on May 14 came to HCM City to show off their products and look for partners.

Prasatsuk Niyomrat, an official in Thailand's Department of Industrial Promotion, said the visit was also meant to obtain information for Thailand's small and medium-sized enterprises about regional markets ahead of the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015.-VNA