Vietnam News Agency and the Public Relations Department (PRD) ofThailand agreed to foster links to popularise information on the ASEANCommunity and promote relations between the two nations.

The two sides will continue cooperating in the fields of news andvideo exchanges, language training, and a possible joint productionproject to mark 40 years of diplomatic relationship between Vietnam andThailand.

The consensus was reached by VNA DeputyDirector General Ngo Ha Thai and PRD Deputy Director General CharoonChaisorn during the 12 th Joint Technical Committee (JTC) meeting inBangkok on July 15.

The two sides reviewed theresults of implementing their cooperation agreement over the last 12years, highlighting the efficiency and significance of their links,including enhanced professional exchanges.

Increasing VNA-PRD cooperation will contribute to enhancing mutualunderstanding and friendship between the two countries and peoples, theynoted.

According to VNA Deputy Director General Ngo Ha Thai,the two sides effectively implemented their cooperation programmes,fostering information popularisation and promoting images of the landand people of Vietnam and Thailand.

Deputy Director GeneralCharoon Chaisorn, for his part, spoke of the intensive cooperationbetween his agency and VNA, expressing his desire that commitments madeat this year’s meeting will strengthen connections within plans for theASEAN Community, which is scheduled to be formed by the end of thisyear.

The VNA and PRD signed an MoU on cooperation ininformation and news exchange in 2003, expanding the two agencies’ linksto various fields such as exchanges of visit and news and video, andlanguage training.

Cooperation between the media agencies underthe Vietnamese and Thai Governments is in line with the set plans tobring the bilateral relations to a higher level in the future.-VNA