Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara on October 26 agreed to work to elevate their countries’ strategic partnership to a new height.
At their talks in the Hanoi, Son hailed the importance of his guest’s official visit to the extensive cooperation between the two countries as well as between the two foreign ministries amid the 10th anniversary of the strategic partnership.
Parnpree affirmed that Vietnam is a close friend and one of the leading partners of Thailand in the region, expressing his hope for stronger ties between the two ministries.
Both host and guest expressed their delight at the countries’ increasingly extensive and substantive cooperation in all fields on the basis of mutual respect, trust, and benefits.
They discussed orientations for coordinating closely with both countries’ relevant ministries and sectors to promote the effective implementation of important cooperation areas based on the action plan for carrying out the enhanced strategic partnership for 2022 - 2027.
In particular, the two sides agreed to increase delegation exchanges at all levels and effectively implement bilateral cooperation mechanisms, especially the joint cabinet meetings and the Joint Committee for Bilateral Cooperation. They concurred in working together to arrange an official visit to Vietnam by the Prime Minister of Thailand, who will also join his Vietnamese counterpart to co-chair the fourth joint cabinet meeting.
They pledged to further enhance cooperation between the two foreign ministries, including considering the resumption of the consular consultation and the establishment of a hotline between the directors of the ministries’ department for regional affairs to share opinions on issued of common concern in a timely manner.
In terms of economy, trade and investment, the officials agreed to keep making efforts to raise bilateral trade to 25 billion USD early by reducing trade barriers, further opening their countries’ markets to each other’s goods, bolstering economic, infrastructure and scientific - technological connectivity, helping guarantee supply chains via implementing the “Three Connections” strategy, and strengthening ties in new areas such as digital economy, e-commerce, and green energy.
They voiced their support for developing road and waterway transportation routes, increasing flights between Vietnam and Thailand, and step up the negotiation and signing of cooperation documents on other important fields like agriculture, labour, and maritime affairs.
Expressing their support for the enhancement of defence and security ties, both ministers reaffirmed the commitment not to allow any individual or organisation to use one country’s territory to sabotage the other.
Minister Son spoke highly of Thailand’s provision of conditions for opening the Vietnam Town and the centre for Vietnamese studies in Udon Thani province.
He asked the two sides to maintain cooperation in preserving and promoting the values of the relic sites linked with late President Ho Chi Minh and Vietnamese pagodas in Thailand, support the teaching of Thai and Vietnamese languages in each other’s countries, and encourage the building of cooperative and twin relations between the countries’ localities, thereby creating a solid foundation for promoting people-to-people exchanges and business-to-business links.
Talking about regional and international cooperation, both officials affirmed that Vietnam and Thailand will coordinate closely at multilateral and regional mechanisms, work with other ASEAN countries to consolidate the solidarity, unity and centrality of ASEAN, and increase partnerships in developing the Mekong sub-region and managing and sustainably using the Mekong River’s water resources.
They affirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, safety, and security of navigation and overflight in the East Sea on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
On this occasion, the Deputy PM and Foreign Minister of Thailand invited Minister Son to pay an official visit to his country and co-chair the fifth meeting of the Joint Committee for Bilateral Cooperation.
