Vietnam and Thailand to Elevate Bilateral Relations to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

Hanoi, The Gulf Observer: Vietnam and Thailand are poised to upgrade their bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, a move aimed at fostering cooperation to address shared challenges and achieving a bilateral trade turnover of $25 billion at the earliest opportunity. This objective was conveyed during a phone call on Thursday between Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and Thailand’s newly appointed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, following her assumption of office as the 31st Prime Minister of Thailand.

During the conversation, Prime Minister Chính extended the regards and best wishes of Party General Secretary and State President Tô Lâm to the King, Queen, and Royal Family of Thailand. He also congratulated Paetongtarn Shinawatra on her new role and expressed confidence in the continued success of the Government and people of Thailand in their development efforts.

Prime Minister Chính reaffirmed Vietnam’s steadfast foreign policy, which places high value on strengthening the increasingly strong, trustworthy, and substantive relationship between Vietnam and Thailand. He also conveyed his sympathies to the Thai Government and people regarding the recent severe flash floods in northern Thailand.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn expressed her gratitude to Prime Minister Chính for his congratulatory letter and phone call. She underscored Vietnam’s role as a close neighbor and important partner of Thailand in the region, praising the country’s socio-economic development achievements. She affirmed her readiness to collaborate with Prime Minister Chính to enhance the comprehensive and effective partnership between the two nations, benefiting their peoples and contributing to regional peace and stability.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn also extended her thanks to Vietnam for the warm and gracious reception accorded to Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn during her visit to Vietnam from August 13 to 15.

The two leaders assessed that the Vietnam-Thailand Strategic Partnership is developing robustly and effectively across various fields. They concurred on the need to elevate the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the near future.

Prime Minister Chính commended Thailand for being Vietnam’s largest trading partner and the second-largest foreign investor within ASEAN. He affirmed that Vietnam would continue to create favorable conditions for Thai enterprises to operate effectively in the country. He also expressed support for Thailand’s “Six Countries, One Destination” initiative, which aims to harness the tourism potential among ASEAN countries.

The Thai Prime Minister expressed her desire for both sides to work closely to enhance regional transport connectivity, strengthen cooperation in culture, education, and training, and promote people-to-people exchanges, thereby fostering the role of friendship bridges between the two nations.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn noted that Vietnam and Thailand have closely linked and complementary economies, and expressed a strong desire for the two countries to collaborate in leveraging their strengths to become key drivers of economic growth in the region.

On regional and international issues of mutual interest, Prime Minister Chính proposed that Vietnam and Thailand continue to cooperate closely to strengthen ASEAN unity and centrality, support Laos in successfully chairing ASEAN in 2024, and promote sustainable development in the Mekong region. He also emphasized the importance of maintaining ASEAN’s common stance on the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea), contributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region.

Prime Minister Chính extended a cordial invitation to Prime Minister Paetongtarn for an official visit to Vietnam and to co-chair the 4th Vietnam-Thailand Joint Cabinet Meeting. Prime Minister Paetongtarn graciously accepted the invitation, signaling a further deepening of ties between the two nations.