Party General Secretary and State President Tô Lâm meets with Thailand's President of the National Assembly and Speaker of the House of Representatives Sophon Saram in Bangkok on Thursday. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

BANGKOK — General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV) Central Committee and State President Tô Lâm on Thursday met with President of the Thai National Assembly and Speaker of the House of Representatives Sophon Saram, within the framework of his official visit to Thailand.

NA President Sophon Saram welcomed the top Vietnamese leader on his first visit to Thailand in his new capacity, and appreciated the trip as it coincides with the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations.

Noting the successful outcomes of the talks between General Secretary and President Lâm and Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, NA President Sophon Saram expressed his confidence that the visit will further promote and deepen the Thailand–Việt Nam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Congratulating Việt Nam on its development achievements after 40 years of Đổi mới (Renewal), the top legislator affirmed that these accomplishments are attributable to the sound policies of the Party and State, political stability, and the continuous efforts of the Vietnamese people.

General Secretary and President Lâm also congratulated Thailand on its strong and comprehensive development achievements in recent years, particularly in maintaining stable economic growth, promoting digital transformation, developing key industries, modernising infrastructure, and implementing policies aimed at sustainable development, innovation, and improving people’s quality of life.

He stated that Thailand’s development orientation reflects a strategic vision, and that these achievements have helped enhance the country’s role and position in the region and the world, and open up many practical opportunities for cooperation between Thailand and other nations, including Việt Nam.

The two leaders showed their delight at the strong and substantive development of bilateral relations across all fields over the past 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties. They emphasised that the upgrade of bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2025 reflects the high level of political trust and the determination of both countries’ leaders to bring bilateral collaboration into a new stage of development.

Both sides also appreciated the role and positive contributions of the two countries’ legislatures in promoting cooperation, improving the legal framework, and supervising the effective implementation of bilateral agreements.

The Thai NA President noted that the number of Thai tourists to Việt Nam has grown strongly in recent years, and an increasing number of enterprises from both countries have expanded their investment and business activities in each other’s markets. He expressed his hope that both sides will continue supporting and facilitating investors to participate more deeply in their respective markets.

On that basis, the Vietnamese leader affirmed his desire for the bilateral relationship in general, and ties between the two legislatures in particular, to continue flourishing, especially as both nations enter a new stage of development, for the benefit of their peoples and for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

He proposed the Thai National Assembly continue to pay attention to, support, and create favourable conditions for the effective implementation of cooperation agreements between the two countries, including the Action Programme for implementing the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the 2026–2031 period, which was signed during his talks with PM Anutin. The programme includes many important areas of cooperation such as defence, security, trade, investment, science and technology, infrastructure connectivity, culture, education, and people-to-people exchanges.

The top Thai legislator agreed to coordinate with the Vietnamese National Assembly to strengthen cooperation; effectively implement the Cooperation Agreement between the two legislatures signed in 2023; increase exchanges of delegations and contacts; promote partnerships among specialised agencies, friendship parliamentarians’ groups, women parliamentarians, and young parliamentarians; and expand the sharing of experience in areas such as law-making, digital transformation, green growth, and climate change response.

Both sides affirmed that they will maintain close coordination within regional and international inter-parliamentary mechanisms such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), and the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), thereby contributing to strengthening solidarity within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and maintaining peace, stability, and sustainable development in the region.

On this occasion, Party General Secretary and State President Lâm conveyed an invitation from NA Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn to the Thai National Assembly President to visit Việt Nam at an appropriate time. The host leader thanked the Vietnamese leadership, gladly accepted the invitation, and expressed his wish to visit Việt Nam at an early date. — VNA/VNS