Bangkok (VNA) – General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and State President To Lam held talks with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul in Bangkok on May 28.
At the talks, PM Anutin warmly welcomed Party General Secretary and State President Lam on his official visit to Thailand, emphasising that the visit holds important significance as the two countries are celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations (1976 –2 026), while also reflecting the high level of political trust between the two nations. PM Anutin extended his greetings and an invitation to visit Thailand to Prime Minister Le Minh Hung.
Expressing sincere thanks for the warm, thoughtful, and friendly reception extended by PM Anutin, the Government, and people of Thailand to the Vietnamese delegation, Party General Secretary and State President Lam affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to and wishes to further strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Thailand. Amid numerous global geopolitical and economic challenges, both Thailand and Vietnam have maintained stability and development, affirming their increasingly important roles and positions in the region and the world.
Vietnam’s top leader congratulated Thailand on its remarkable achievements in socio-economic development and growth recovery, maintaining its position as one of Southeast Asia’s largest economies and a leading global tourism powerhouse.
He appreciated Thailand’s efforts in promoting science and technology, the digital economy, and digital transformation, expressing his belief that under the leadership of PM Anutin, Thailand will continue to achieve new successes in implementing socio-economic development plans and enhancing its role and standing in the region and globally.
At the talks, the two leaders highly valued the strong, comprehensive, and substantive progress in bilateral relations in recent years. Political trust has been strengthened, while defence and security cooperation has deepened and become one of the important pillars of bilateral ties. Economic, trade, and investment ties have grown positively, while cooperation among localities and in culture, education and tourism, as well as people-to-people exchanges, have continued to expand in diverse and practical forms.
Discussing directions for further deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the coming period, both sides expressed their readiness to accompany and support each other’s development. They agreed to continue strengthening political trust through maintaining high-level and all-level exchanges across all channels; enhancing the effectiveness of existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms; convening the fifth Vietnam-Thailand, Thailand-Vietnam Joint Cabinet Meeting in Thailand; and soon organising a meeting of the Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation between the two foreign ministers.
The two leaders also agreed to further promote and deepen defence and security cooperation, strengthen coordination in combating transnational crime, cybercrime, and drug-related crime, and cooperate in ensuring maritime security and safety.
Party General Secretary and State President Lam proposed that both sides continue to uphold and implement the commitment made by the high-ranking leaders of the two countries not to allow any individual or organisation to use one country’s territory to conduct activities against the other. He also called for early negotiations and signing of an Extradition Agreement and an Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.
PM Anutin emphasised that Thailand absolutely does not allow its territory to be used against friendly countries.
In the economic field, the two leaders consented to strengthen economic cooperation and connectivity in a mutually complementary manner, with new breakthroughs and qualitative development. They pledged efforts to raise bilateral trade turnover from the current 22 billion USD to 25 billion USD in a balanced and sustainable manner, while accelerating licensing procedures to facilitate market access for several promising agricultural products. PM Anutin affirmed that Vietnam is one of Thailand’s leading important partners in the region, stressing that the two countries share many similarities and possess the potential to become major global manufacturing hubs.
Expressing his wish for the two sides to further strengthen cooperation in promoting the development of each country’s private economic sector, he affirmed that Thailand supports and encourages enterprises of both countries to enhance cooperation.
The PM highly appreciated the effective operations of Vietnamese businesses in Thailand and welcomed more Vietnamese investors to the country.
General Secretary and State President Lam proposed the two sides promptly establish a joint working group to formulate plans and effectively implement the important “Three Connectivity” Strategy, covering supply chains, businesses and localities, and sustainable development strategies.
He also suggested enhancing transport and logistics connectivity, while expanding cooperation in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), digital transformation, digital economy, green economy, innovation and just energy transition.
Agreeing to promote bilateral cooperation in science and technology, particularly in new fields such as AI and semiconductor technology, PM Anutin proposed the two countries study the possibility of implementing joint projects in biotechnology and microbiology, adding that Thailand is also ready to share experience with Vietnam in space technology application and satellite utilisation.
The two leaders underscored the importance of strengthening people-to-people exchanges as well as cooperation in the fields of culture, education, tourism and locality-to-locality ties.
General Secretary and State President Lam suggested the two sides share information and experience in tourism development, while promoting cooperation in developing tourism products and connecting destinations of the two countries, especially in areas of shared strengths such as marine tourism, cultural tourism and culinary tourism.
The two sides agreed to continue creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Thailand and the Thai community in Vietnam, while enhancing the teaching of Vietnamese language in Thailand and Thai language in Vietnam to enhance mutual understanding.
They also agreed to preserve and promote historical and cultural sites associated with the friendship between the two countries, including President Ho Chi Minh memorial sites in Thailand.
The two sides affirmed that they will continue to closely coordinate and support each other at regional and international forums, promote the central role of ASEAN, strengthen intra-bloc solidarity, and enhance cooperation within the framework of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and Mekong sub-regional cooperation mechanisms.
They also stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability, ensuring security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight, and resolving disputes through peaceful measures on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The two leaders agreed to direct ministries and sectors to promptly implement the important outcomes achieved during the visit, thereby promoting substantive and effective development of Vietnam-Thailand relations in the coming time.
Following the talks, General Secretary and State President Lam and PM Anutin witnessed the signing ceremony of the Action Programme for implementing the Vietnam-Thailand Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the 2026-2031 period, as well as the exchange of cooperation documents in science-technology and education./.
