Vietnam and Thailand have signed a bilateral agreement on cooperation in extraditing and prosecuting accused criminals.

Vietnam’s Minister of Public Security Le Hong Anh signed the deal with Thai Minister of Justice Pirapan Salirathavibhaga at a ceremony in Bangkok on March 3 after holding talks with Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban.

Suthep, who is in charge of the public security affairs, pointed out that Vietnam is celebrating important events and hosting international and regional meetings in 2010, a year during which it is also assuming the ASEAN chairmanship. Thailand is ready to attend these major upcoming events and is doing its utmost to help Vietnam successfully organise them, he added.

The Thai government highly valued cooperation in public security with Vietnam and wished to promote cooperation in the fight against human trafficking, particularly women and children, as well as other trans-national crimes, the Deputy PM said. He added that bilateral cooperation in public security not only contributes to ensuring the security of each country, but also contributes to building a future ASEAN Community.

He reaffirmed his country’s commitment to creating the best possible conditions for Vietnamese residents who are working and living in Thailand.

Minister Anh spoke highly of the development of cooperation between the two countries as well as between the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and relevant Thai agencies.

He emphasised that the two countries’ signing of a number of agreements has created a legal framework for both sides to exchange information and experience, and to cooperate in maintaining public security in each country./.