Thailand and Vietnam have enjoyed their relations over the past three decades. This year both sides have decided to bring their relationship to a higher level by establishing an agreement to assist each other in the areas of economy, politics, culture, national security, and regional cooperation.
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phutong has recently paid an official visit to Thailand to discuss ways to strengthen the two nations’ bilateral relations with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Consequently, a strategic partnership has been formed and signed by both Thailand and Vietnam to diversify the aspects of their cooperation.
Accompanying Mr. Nguyen Phutong is Chairman of External Relations Commission, Communist Party of Vietnam, Mr. Hoang Binh Quan, who has provided us in great details of what the objectives are and how the strategic partnership will benefit both countries.
Mr. Hoang explained that the partnership will focus on supporting each other in the following aspects, namely politics, security, culture, economy, and regional cooperation. He added that the strategic partnership is the first step that will pave the way for specific cooperation to be established in the future.
According to the Chairman, both sides will assign Foreign Ministers to determine which areas of joint development each country needs before more deals will be made. It is anticipated that the next round of agreement signing will be held in October this year.
Mr. Hoang also boasted that this is by far the first time both Thailand and Vietnam has started a bilateral relationship with a country that is a party to ASEAN. The two countries have also set a target to increase bilateral trade value by 20% annually, topping 15 billion US dollars by 2020.
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