Ample room for Việt Nam-Thailand cooperation in new economic sectors: official

VIETNAM, May 3 - BANGKOK — Demand for cooperation between Việt Nam and Thailand is continuously expanding and new business opportunities will appear when both countries begin to develop new economic sectors such as green economy, circular economy and renewable energy, according to Lê Hữu Phúc, Head of the Việt Nam Trade Office in Thailand.

As the two countries strive to achieve climate change response goals, especially net zero emissions, the Trade Office will seek opportunities to connect enterprises in those fields, Phúc said, adding that that is also an inevitable trend and there remains ample room to promote the bilateral cooperation in the future.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)'s representative reporters in Thailand, Phúc said the office will focus on local economic cooperation, especially between Northeastern provinces of Thailand, which house a large number of Vietnamese people and central provinces of Việt Nam.

With geographical proximity, cooperation between these two regions can help Việt Nam promote trade links with Thailand, especially border trade via Laos; and facilitate access to each other's market through local products under Thailand's OTOP (One Tambon One Product) programme and Việt Nam's OCOP (One Commune One Product).

Regarding supply chain connectivity, the official said that the office will promote support for Vietnamese businesses in finding and building agents and expanding commercial presence in Thailand, while introducing and bringing Vietnamese goods to Thai supermarkets through cooperation with large supermarket systems in the country such as Central, Marko and TCC.

It will assist and boost industrial collaboration, especially in the automotive field such as finding and connecting manufacturers of component parts and accessories, added Phúc.

According to the official, the relationship between the two countries is developing fruitfully, creating favourable conditions for the implementation of economic diplomacy in Thailand. Since the establishment of the bilateral strategic partnership in 2013, two-way trade increased by 230 per cent from US$9.4 billion to $21.6 billion in 2022. Last year, the figure reached nearly $19 billion.

At present, Thailand is Việt Nam's biggest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), while the latter is the former's No 2 partner, after Malaysia.

Thailand now has more than 700 valid projects in Việt Nam with combined investment of nearly $15 billion, ranking 9th among foreign investors in the country. Meanwhile, Việt Nam's investment in Thailand remains modest with a sum of $32 million, focusing on consumer goods and distribution. — VNS