Embassy works to boost economic diplomacy between Vietnam, Thailand

The Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand considers economic diplomacy a main pillar among its tasks, together with political diplomacy, cultural diplomacy and overseas Vietnamese affairs, Ambassador Phan Chi Thanh has said.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)'s correspondents in Thailand, Thanh said that the embassy is taking drastic measures to bring two-way trade to US$25 billion by 2025 as set out by the two countries’ leaders.

Thailand is Vietnam’s biggest trade partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with bilateral trade turnover hitting US$19.5 billion in 2021 and US$10.6 billion in the first half of this year. Thailand also ranks ninth among 140 nations and territories investing in Vietnam, with over US$13 billion.

Thanh went on to say that with the motto of putting businesses and localities at the centre of services of economic diplomacy, the embassy has carried out a lot of activities to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation between ministries, sectors, localities and enterprises. In July, it organised forums connecting 40 Vietnamese-owned firms in Thailand with hundreds of businesses from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang city, and Quang Nam, Kien Giang and Bac Giang provinces.

In 2022 and 2023, the embassy has also implemented five main tasks of promoting economic linkages between the northeastern region of Thailand with Vietnam’s central region through Laos; promoting Thailand’s investment and tourism in Phu Quoc island; boosting the export of agricultural products to Thailand; speeding up the establishment of a Vietnam Business Association in Thailand; and carrying out corporate diplomacy in Thailand.

He stressed that promoting corporate diplomacy is of important significance as almost all major Thai corporations are present in Vietnam, with big investment projects.

However, Thanh stressed that Vietnam’s investment in Thailand has to date reached US$32 million – a quite modest figure compared to US$13 billion of Thailand.

In the time to come, the embassy will continue promoting Vietnam’s business and investment environment and tourism to Thai enterprises and people, attracting more high-quality investment of Thailand in the fields of renewable energy and hi-tech agriculture, and popularising investment opportunities in Thailand to domestic localities and businesses to increase Vietnam’s investment in the country.

It will also focus on solving bottlenecks in economic cooperation, developing new tourism products, and accompanying and supporting the two business communities, Thanh added.

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