On June 6, Vice Chairman Pham Thanh Kien of the HCMC People's Council and his delegation paid a courtesy visit to Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt. During the meeting, Vice Chairman Pham Thanh Kien affirmed that Vietnam-Thailand relations are becoming increasingly politically and diplomatically trustworthy and strategic. Economic, trade, and investment cooperation is becoming more inclusive, substantive, and effective. The cooperation in science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, and green transformation is being promoted more strongly.
At the same time, cooperation in culture, education and training, environment, and climate change response is becoming increasingly profound. People-to-people exchanges and connections between generations are open and sincere, fostering greater understanding, empathy, and collaboration in defense and security cooperation.
Additionally, Thailand currently ranks 9th among countries and territories investing in Vietnam and 2nd within ASEAN for bilateral trade. According to Vice Chairman Pham Thanh Kien, the development of economic relations between the two countries is being driven by the action program implementing the Enhanced Strategic Partnership for 2022-2027. This opens up opportunities for investment and trade, serving as a crucial impetus for the two countries to achieve the goal of increasing bilateral trade turnover to US$25 billion by 2025.
Mr. Pham Thanh Kien emphasized that Thailand is an important partner for HCMC. As of 2023, Thailand ranks 12th among 122 countries and territories with registered capital in HCMC, with 275 projects totaling over $519 million. The total import-export turnover between HCMC and Thailand in 2023 exceeded $2.4 billion.
At the meeting, the two sides exchanged experiences in the management and development of smart cities by increasing the exchange of leadership and management delegations in areas such as public transport development, digital transformation, healthcare, and infrastructure development associated with water spaces for tourism and climate change adaptation. Additionally, they discussed creating conditions for businesses from both sides to learn about the investment environments in HCMC and Bangkok and organizing investment promotion activities for businesses in trade, tourism, infrastructure development, agriculture, and retail.
The Vice Chairman of the HCMC People's Council expressed a desire to strengthen the friendly cooperation between the two cities in trade, investment, tourism, and cultural exchange. He particularly emphasized enhancing interactions between the younger generations through the HCMC Youth Union to lay a solid foundation for future cooperation.
On this occasion, Mr. Pham Thanh Kien delivered an invitation from Chairman Phan Van Mai of the HCMC People's Committee, inviting Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt to attend the 2nd Friendship Dialogue and the 5th HCMC Economic Forum, scheduled from September 23 to 27, 2024, in HCMC. He hoped that the Governor would arrange to attend alongside representatives from HCMC's 58 sister cities worldwide.
During the official visit from June 6 to 8, the delegation will also hold a working meeting with the Department of Transportation of Bangkok, discussing future cooperation and updating each other on the development policies of both regions. They will also engage with the Bangkok Urban Planning and Development Department, as well as the Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, exchanging insights on experiences with river cruises along the Chao Phraya River and sharing tourism management practices along both riverbanks. Additionally, they will meet with the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand.
The delegation plans to tour the riverside service area management zone of ICONSIAM and study the private-public management model for riverside service areas, waterfront spaces integrated with commercial centers, and cultural preservation of indigenous heritage.
