Trade and investment activities between Vietnam and Thailand would be further promoted in the new year, said Vietnam's trade counsellor in Thailand.

Nguyen Thanh Hung said Thai investment and trade activities will continue to grow in Vietnam, due to the country's political stability and economic development potential.

Thailand approved 14 new projects in the country this year, helping it break into the top ten largest investors in the country, Hung said. Large Thai firms, including TIPCO, Amata and Siam Cement Group, are also promoting investment in Vietnam.

According to statistics, Thai firms invested a total of 5.7 billion USD in Vietnam during the 1988-2009 period.

Meanwhile, eight Vietnamese enterprises have opened representative offices in Thailand to promote their businesses.

The Hoang Anh Gia Lai Company is Vietnam's largest investor in Thailand, having built an apartment block in Bangkok. The Thien Long Group and Quang Tri Trade and Investment Company have also opened representative offices in Thailand to export Vietnamese goods to the Thai market.

The Trung Nguyen Group has been looking for Thai wholesalers to stock its products, due to increasing demand in Thai supermarkets.

Trade between the two countries is estimated to reach 7.5 billion USD this year, an increase of 21 percent compared to last year, Hung said.

That figure is likely to increase in the future as more and more export commodities take advantage of a zero percent import/export tax rate under the ASEAN co-operation framework, he said./.