At the 5th Meeting of the Vietnam – Thailand Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation. (Photo: VNA)Bangkok (VNA) – Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son met with Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn as part of his official visit to
Thailand from April 10-12, where he is also co-chairing the 5th Meeting of
the Vietnam – Thailand Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC).
Son congratulated Thailand on the achievements it has made during the
post-COVID-19 recovery period, believing that the country will continue reaping
further successes in building itself into a prosperous nation that plays an
active role in the region and the world.
The Vietnamese diplomat also expressed his gratitude for the sentiments that the
Thai King and the Princess herself have given to Vietnam, with the Princess’s song and performance about Vietnam, called “Vietnam an long” (Vietnam at peace),
at Chulalongkorn University being a vivid illustration.
He spoke highly of the projects sponsored by the Princess, including one on
improving the quality of life for children and youths in Asia – Pacific, hoping
that the she will re-visit Vietnam soon.
The Thai Princess, for her part, hailed Vietnam’s rapid socio-economic development
over the past time, and affirmed that she will continue carrying out support
projects in Vietnam.
She agreed to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in
Thailand, and back the preservation and promotion of the Vietnamese cultural
values in Thailand, thereby contributing to the friendship and cooperation between the
two nations.
Son then paid a courtesy call on Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, during which he
conveyed Vietnamese leaders’ regards and greetings to Thailand on the occasion of the Songkran
festival.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son (centre, left) and Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin at their meeting in Bangkok. (Photo: VNA)The Vietnam – Thailand cooperative ties are at their best, he
stressed, affirming economic connectivity between the two countries aims at
overcoming disadvantages in the spirit of “cooperation for mutual benefit and development”.
He urged both sides to remove bottlenecks and facilitate trade, striving to
realise the target of 25 billion USD in two-way trade revenue by 2025 in a more balanced direction.
Commending Thailand’s initiatives, Son agreed
to boost tourism cooperation with regional countries, and held that it is necessary
to work together to develop infrastructure and multimodal transport.
He also suggested enhancing the teaching of Vietnamese and Thai languages in each
nation, and promote Vietnamese cultural and historical values in Thailand,
particularly the monuments dedicated to President Ho Chi Minh in Nakhon Phanom,
Udon Thani and Phichit.
Srettha applauded the significance of the JCBC mechanism to strengthening bilateral
cooperation in all areas, making the Thailand – Vietnam Enhanced Strategic Partnership develop
to a deeper and more practical way that brings benefits to the people of
each nation.
Thailand attaches much importance to bolstering its cooperative ties with
Vietnam in all fields, particularly in economy, trade and investment, he affirmed,
hoping to concretise the cooperation through specific projects within the “Three
Connections” initiative.
He also recommended Vietnam to coordinate to roll out the “several countries, one
destination” to enhance tourism cooperation.
Additionally, the Thai PM expected that Vietnam will encourage airlines to open a direct service to Udon Thani city where a large number of Vietnamese expats are
living to promote tourism and people-to-people exchanges./.
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