April 12, 2024
HANOI – Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn 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 Việt Nam-Thailand Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC).
Minister Sơn 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 Việt Nam, with the Princess’s song and performance about Việt Nam, 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 Việt Nam soon.
The Thai Princess, for her part, hailed Việt Nam’s rapid socio-economic development over the past time, and affirmed that she will continue carrying out support projects in Việt Nam.
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.
Sơn 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.
The Việt Nam-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 US$25 billion in two-way trade revenue by 2025 in a more balanced direction.
Commending Thailand’s initiatives, Sơn 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 Hồ Chí 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-Việt Nam 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 Việt Nam 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 Việt Nam to coordinate to roll out the “several countries, one destination” to enhance tourism cooperation.
Additionally, the Thai PM expected that Việt Nam 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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