Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand Phan Chi Thanh. (Photo: VNA) In an interview granted the Vietnam News Agency's resident correspondents in Bangkok, Thanh noted that the trip, made at the invitation of President of the National Assembly of Thailand Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, will last from December 7-10. It takes place at a time when Thailand successfully organised general elections in May and formed a new government. NA Chairman Hue is the first foreign legislative leader to visit Thailand in the new tenure of its parliament. Additionally, 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the strategic partnership between the two countries.
The diplomat said Chairman Hue will hold talks and meet with high-ranking leaders of the host country. He will also meet with members of parliament (MPs), politicians, scholars, and businesses, and visit Udon Thani province, which is home to the largest number of Vietnamese expatriates.
This visit can be considered a conclusive event for the 10th anniversary of the Vietnam-Thailand strategic partnership this year. It reaffirms their high-ranking leaders’ support for the action programme implementing the bilateral enhanced strategic partnership for 2022-2027, which includes the two NAs’ high-level delegation exchanges and closer coordination at regional and multilateral forums such as the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), and ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).
According to the ambassador, Thai leaders highly appreciate Vietnam's potential, role and international position, considering the nation as a leading important partner of Thailand in the region. Prospects for the bilateral ties and their roles in addressing international and regional issues are among matters to be clarified in Chairman Hue's speech at Chulalongkorn University, a leading policy research institution of Thailand.
Furthermore, the Vietnamese NA plays a vital role in promulgating laws and policies to promote investment, trade, and business cooperation with foreign partners. Therefore, Thai enterprises are pinning hopes on their meeting with the top legislator as part of a policy and legal forum promoting bilateral economic, trade, and investment cooperation.
During the visit, Vietnam and Thailand are expected to sign cooperation agreements between the two NAs and NA Offices to elevate parliamentary cooperation to a higher and deeper level.
The NA Chairman is set to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce in Thailand (VietCham Thailand), the groundbreaking ceremony for Phase 2 of the Ho Chi Minh memorial site in Udon Thani, open a street named Vietnam Town in the province, and visit the centre for Vietnamese studies at Udon Thani Rajabhat University.
Agreements to be signed during the trip will outline various measures to further promote the bilateral parliamentary cooperative relations in a deeper and more substantive way. Meanwhile, discussions will be held with Thai leaders on the framework of cooperation involving high-level parliamentary exchanges, the supervision of the implementation of signed cooperation agreements, citizen protection collaboration, and lawmaking experience sharing, Thanh added./.
VNA
