Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (R) receives President of the National Legislative Assembly of Thailand Pornpetch Wichitcholchai in Hà Nội yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc hosted a reception for President of the National Legislative Assembly of Thailand Pornpetch Wichitcholchai in Hà Nội yesterday.

The PM said he will lead a high-level Government delegation to visit Thailand from August 17-19 to exchange measures promoting bilateral friendship and co-operation, and enhance the two countries’ strategic partnership.

Việt Nam and Thailand have improved co-ordination across various fields from politics, security, and defense to economics, trade, tourism, culture and society in recent years, Phúc said.

Thailand is Việt Nam biggest trading partner in ASEAN, with two-way trade reaching US$12.5 billion in 2016. However, as Việt Nam ran a trade deficit of $5 billion with Thailand, Phúc hoped the two countries will seek measures to balance trade and increase bilateral trade to $20 billion by 2020.

Tourism co-operation has also developed, with about 800,000 Vietnamese tourists visiting Thailand in 2016 while over 200,000 Thais travelled to Việt Nam, he noted.

The PM proposed Thailand further open its market for Vietnamese goods and create more favourable conditions for Vietnamese workers to work in the country as well as encourage Thai businesses to boost investment in Việt Nam. 

Việt Nam will address difficulties and create conditions for Thai investors to do business, he affirmed. 

For his part, Pornpetch highlighted the sound relations between the Vietnamese and Thai legislatures. The two sides spoke about ways to boost bilateral co-operation at international forums.

Thailand and Việt Nam are big trade and investment partners, he said, adding that they have pushed co-operation in other fields such as security, defense, and marine patrol.

The connection of roads and railways between Thailand and Việt Nam via third countries in the future will be an important factor in the promotion of bilateral and wide-ranging co-operation, including tourism, he said, hoping that the two sides will strengthen measures to draw more Thai tourists to Việt Nam. — VNS