The media of Thailand has widely covered the recent visit of the General
Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong,
highlighting that the two countries have agreed to accelerate their ties
to strategic partnership.
The National News Bureau
of Thailand commented that after over three decades of nurturing the
relationship, Vietnam and Thailand decided to lift up their ties
to a new height by reaching a number of agreements in economics,
politics, culture, national security and regional cooperation.
The Bangkok Post newspaper cited Pichayaphant Charnbumipol, head of
the East Asia Department of the Thai Foreign Ministry as saying that
Vietnam is the first ASEAN country to choose Thailand for signing
strategic partnership agreement, which paves the way for the further
consolidation of their ties in all realms.
According
to the Mass Communication Organisation of Thailand (MCOT), the upgrade
of the Vietnam-Thailand bilateral ties and the expansion of their
cooperation will benefit people of both countries.
MCOT quoted Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra as saying that she
highly values the visit by the Vietnamese Party chief as this is the
basis for the two governments to head to the signing of a strategic
partnership agreement.
The Prime Ministers of the
two countries are scheduled to sign the agreement during their joint
cabinet meeting in October in Thailand , it said.
MCOT added that during the visit, the two sides agreed to regularly
organise delegation exchanges to increase mutual understanding and set a
target of raising two-way trade by 20 percent to 15 billion USD by
2020.
The Nation newspaper also gave space to
underline the new strategic partnership agreement, describing it as a
great effort of Thailand to strengthen ties with its major rice
competitor.
The Thailand Public Relations Department
under the Thai Government said Thailand is encouraging its businesses
to invest in Vietnam in construction and the petrochemical industry and
also welcomes Vietnamese investors to seek opportunities in the country.-VNA