General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nguyen PhuTrong has affirmed that Vietnam welcomes Thai businesses and alwaystries to its best to facilitate their long-term investment and operationin the country.

Meeting with representatives from leadingThai enterprises in Bangkok on June 26, the Vietnamese Party leaderinformed them of the CPV and State of Vietnam’s policies on investmentattraction and furthering Vietnam-Thailand investment and trade ties.

He suggested the two sides make full use of the Trade JointCommittee mechanism to bolster bilateral trade and investment, includingin finance, rice and farm produce production and exports.

General Secretary Trong also said the two sides should enhancecoordination between business organisations and the role of theVietnam-Thailand, Thailand-Vietnam Business Councils in order to tap thegreat potential of their economic cooperation.

Earlier the sameday, the Thammasat University granted an honorary doctoratedegree on politics to General Secretary Trong.

As part of thevisit, the Party leader toured Chitralada Royal Villa, home to a host ofagricultural projects which has helped improved lives of the needy inThailand, especially those living in rural areas.

Also withinthe framework of Party General Secretary Trong’s visit, Deputy PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc received the President of Amata Vikrom Group. The Deputy PM urged the group to expand operations in Vietnam ,particularly in hi-tech and the development of smart cities,contributing to lifting two-way trade to 15 billion USD by 2020.

On the afternoon of June 26, Vietnam’s low-cost carrier VietJet Airannounced the opening of a direct service to Thailand and signed amemorandum of understanding with Thailand’s Kan Air on establishing anaviation joint-venture in Thailand.-VNA