Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc holds phone talks with his Thai counterpart Prayut Chan-o-cha on Friday to discuss bilateral and regional co-operation ahead of the 37th ASEAN Summit next week. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has suggested Việt Nam and Thailand boost bilateral trade turnover to reach the target of US$20 billion a year.

During phone talks with his Thai counterpart Prayut Chan-o-cha on Friday to discuss bilateral and regional co-operation ahead of the 37th ASEAN Summit to be held next week, the Vietnamese PM asked the Thai side to increase imports of Vietnamese goods, restrict the application of trade defence measures and encourage Thai retail groups to introduce more Vietnamese goods to their distribution systems to reduce Việt Nam's trade deficit with Thailand.

The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the development of friendship and co-operation between the two countries in recent years, both within the bilateral framework as well as at regional and international forums.

With both Việt Nam and Thailand basically got COVID-19 pandemic under control, the two PMs agreed to facilitate promotion of bilateral co-operation.

The two sides will promote the exchange of plans to reopen commercial flights and negotiate priority travel regulations between the two countries.

They agreed to maintain and promote effective bilateral co-operation mechanisms, including the organisation of the 4th Việt Nam-Thailand Joint Cabinet at an appropriate time, early signing the Action Programme to implement the Việt Nam-Thailand Enhanced Strategic Partnership for 2020-25. They also agreed to strengthen economic, trade and investment co-operation and promote the signing of co-operation documents between the two countries' localities and to co-ordinate to organise the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2021.

The two leaders agreed to continue to strengthen ties at multilateral forums.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha highly appreciated Việt Nam's role as the Chair of ASEAN this year and welcomed Việt Nam's initiatives to promote co-operation within ASEAN and foster ties between ASEAN and its partners.

He agreed to continue to support Việt Nam in its role as ASEAN Chair this year and as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the term 2020-21.

In response, PM Phúc highly appreciated the contribution of Thailand in Mekong co-operation frameworks, hoping co-operation between the two countries would continue to be strengthened based on promoting the sustainable development and shared prosperity of the region.

The two PMs agreed on the importance of continuing to strengthen solidarity and maintaining ASEAN's common stance on the South China Sea (called East Sea by Việt Nam) issue. They highlighted the co-ordinated negotiations to achieve an effective, substantive Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea consistent with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. — VNS