Thailand and Vietnam have discussed ways to promote three major areas of their cooperation, including trade and investment, tourism, and infrastructure, as well as the elevation of Thailand-Vietnam bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP).

The discussions were made during the visit of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam Bui Thanh Son to Thailand on 10-12 April 2024 to co-chair the fifth meeting of the Thailand-Vietnam Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara.

On this occasion, the Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who expressed his commitment to paying an official visit to Vietnam and co-chairing the fourth Joint Cabinet Retreat in June 2024. The visit will be a good opportunity to announce the elevation of Thailand-Vietnam relations to the CSP level. Thailand will be the first ASEAN country to establish a CSP with Vietnam.

Concerning trade and investment, Thailand asked Vietnam to facilitate Thailand’s goods in transit, especially fruits, at the Vietnam- China border checkpoints. Vietnam expressed its readiness to work with Thailand to increase bilateral trade volume to achieve the bilateral trade target of 25 billion USD.

Thailand is currently the number one trading partner of Vietnam, while Vietnam is the number two trading partner of Thailand in ASEAN. The two countries agreed to ensure a smooth flow of trade in the region through effective implementation of the ASEAN Single Window scheme. They also discussed measures to facilitate market access for each other’s products, such as an increase in the import quota of livestock and mutual recognition arrangements for local products, under Thailand’s One Tambon One Product (OTOP) and Vietnam’s One Commune, One Product (OCOP) schemes.

Regarding tourism, Thailand and Vietnam agreed to increase flight connections between the two countries, especially between second-tier tourist destinations. They agreed to support the “Six Countries, One Destination” scheme to attract more visitors and promote the countries in the region as a single tourist destination.  

On infrastructure development, Thailand and Vietnam will join forces in developing an international bus route and a coastal sea route connecting Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

In addition, Thailand and Vietnam agreed to further strengthen their cooperation at the local-to-local level, through effective partnership between the two countries’ sister cities. They will also continue to work even more closely to promote cultural ties and education cooperation, especially through the promotion of Thai language teaching in Vietnam and Vietnamese language teaching in Thailand.