Mekong News
Thai-Vietnamese cooperation grows across the board

Thai Ambassador to Vietnam Kittiphong na Ranong speaks to Viet Nam News.

How would you view Thai-Vietnamese relations?

Thailand and Vietnam have witnessed a rapid expansion of their cooperation in all areas in recent years. There has been a frequent exchange of high-level visits of government leaders.

The area of economic cooperation has also seen large expansion. Vietnam has become the ninth-largest trade partner of Thailand. Bilateral trade from January-October reached US$5.29 billion (Bt202 billion), an increase of 36.17 per cent over last year.

Direct investment from Thailand has also increased dramatically, with $5.7 billion in registered capital, making Thailand the eighth-largest foreign investor in Vietnam.

Thailand has also willingly shared her experience in the areas of human resource and sustainable development. This year, the Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency provided technical cooperation, in terms of training programmes and scholarships, for the Vietnamese side in many areas of Thai expertise, in particular agriculture, healthcare and management, education, tourism management, and public and business administration.

The Mah Fah Luang Foundation in Thailand, which is reputed for its expertise in the alternative development approach to alleviating poverty in mountainous areas, has been working with Lao Cai province to implement a pilot project applying the alternative development model in Ta Van Commune near Sa Pa through the coordination of the embassy.

What potential is there for cooperation through the East-West Economic Corridor?

Thailand and Vietnam have played an important role in transforming the existing transport corridor into a full-fledged economic corridor.

With the completion of the eastern part of the EWEC, the Mekong sub-region countries have put concerted efforts into reducing non-physical barriers to the cross-border movement of people and goods through the implementation of the GMS Cross-Border Transport Agreement (CBTA). Thailand ratified nine annexes and two protocols of the CBTA in March and expects to implement all 16 annexes and three protocols of the CBTA in 2010. This agreement has significantly helped facilitate cross-border trade, investment and tourism activities between Vietnam and Thailand as well as with other member states. The main tourist destinations in Vietnam, particularly Hue and Danang, can now be accessed more easily by land from Northeast Thailand. Thanks to Route 9, which makes travel by car between the Thai and Vietnamese border towns possible in less than three hours, Thai tourists have flocked in larger numbers to central Vietnam. From January-November, Vietnam received 169,017 Thai visitors, an increase of 14 per cent over the same period last year.

Likewise, Thailand has also welcomed a larger number of Vietnamese visitors, especially to its northeastern region, which is home to several Vietnamese communities. From January-July, more than 210,000 Vietnamese tourists visited Thailand.

How many Thais now live in Vietnam? How has your embassy offered to help the Thai community integrate into life here?

There are some 600 Thai nationals registered in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with the embassy and consulate. However, such registration is not compulsory for Thais living abroad.

As Thai businesses represent a large proportion of the Thai community in Vietnam, the embassy always teams up with Thai companies here to render assistance to various parts of the country in times of natural disaster or when groups need special help, like handicapped students.

Corporate social responsibility by the Thai private sector in Vietnam has also been encouraged to help improve the quality of life for local employees and their families as well as for the local community and society at large. Study visits, training and scholarships for study both here and in Thailand have also been provided.

The embassy has played an active role in supporting the establishment of the Thai Business Association in Vietnam-Hanoi Chapter in March of last year with the main purposes of not only strengthening Thailand's business presence but also playing a meaningful role in the socio-economic development of Vietnam.

Each year, the embassy and the chapter work closely to rally the Thai community in Hanoi for an annual charity event known as "Thailand Day".

In July, Thailand became chairman of Asean for the next year and a half. What will Thailand do to facilitate the transition period for the implementation of the Asean Charter?

To ensure that our chairmanship will advance the construction of an Asean community and ensure Asean's centrality as a force for regional stability and prosperity, we give priority to the following:

realizing the Asean Charter - to ensure that all the details necessary for the establishment and implementation of new Asean organs envisaged in the charter will be in place,

lrevitalising a people-centred Asean community - to make sure that our people are fully engaged in our community-building process and to raise people awareness through various activities, land reinforcing human security in the Asean community - to make sure that Asean can address and alleviate issues affecting people's well-being in a concrete manner, including the issues of food security, energy security and disaster management.

To help further facilitate our regional integration, the embassy has initiated a home-stay project for selected Vietnamese youths to spend time with Thai families.

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