Promoting Vietnam-Thailand trade cooperation

The Thai Embassy’s Trade Counsellor to Vietnam Busaba Butrat says most of ASEAN countries rely on the exchange of goods. Thailand is now focused on tailoring its products to the needs of consumers within the framework of ASEAN trade cooperation.

The Thai Trade Office in Vietnam has regularly invited Vietnamese businesses to attend trade fairs or conduct fact-finding tours across Thailand.

It has also encouraged both Thai and Vietnamese businesses to achieve deeper integration into the regional economy.

Thai Ambassador to Vientam Anuson Chivanno says the 2015 ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) will present new economic opportunities and challenges facing the bloc.

He says the Thai Foreign Ministry’s Department of International Trade Promotion is responsible for sponsoring the 2015 AEC event.

For its part, Vietnam has helped organise more than 20 Thai fairs in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

One of them scheduled for August 15–18 in Hanoi will involve nearly 150 Thai businesses.

Busaba Butrat says the two-way trade turnover between Thailand and Vietnam remains stable in the face of the global economic downturn.

Thailand’s imports of Vietnamese products rose 47% in 2012 and more than 40% in the first few months of this year while Vietnam’s imports of Thai products increased by some 30%.

Bilateral trade value is expected to hit US$20 billion in 2015, she adds with strong belief in the bright prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation in the fields of agriculture, footwear, civil electricity, and food processing.