Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Quang Binh Doan Ngoc Lam speaks at the event. (Photo: VNA) 

Quang Binh (VNA) – A conference to promote trade activities between businesses of six north-central provinces and those of Laos and Thailand took place in Dong Hoi city of Quang Binhprovince on July 7.

Jointly hosted by the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry andTrade (MoIT) and the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, the event is partof a project of the National Programme on Trade Promotion in 2023 approvedby the ministry. It saw the participation of over 230 delegates from the ministry,the Vietnamese Consulate Generals in Savannakhet of Laos, and Thailand's Khon Kaen; and businesses of the three nations.

In his opening remarks, Director of the provincial Department of Industry and TradePham Quang Hai said the conference aims to create opportunities for exchange,cooperation, market expansion, and trade connectivity to promote the export ofgoods between Thua Thien – Hue, Quang Tri, Quang Binh, Ha Tinh, Nghe An andThanh Hoa provinces of Vietnam and enterprises and distributors from Laos andThailand.

It is hoped to contribute to enhancing competitiveness and promoting businessand production activities of enterprises, and fully tapping opportunities andbenefits of new-generation multilateral and bilateral trade agreements signedbetween Vietnam and Laos, and Thailand, Hai said.

Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Quang Binh Doan Ngoc Lam briefed participants on the locality’spotential and strengths, saying that this offers a chance for businesses in andoutside the locality to seek partners and expand market, towards boostingexport activities between the three countries.

According to Chu Duc Dung, Consul General of Vietnam in KhonKaen, two-way trade between Vietnam and Thailand reached 21.56 billion USD in2022. Thailand remains the largest trading partner of Vietnam in ASEAN, while Vietnamis the second-largest trade partner of Thailand in the region and thesixth-largest in the world.

Thailand has so far had 677 investment projects worth 13.09 billionUSD in Vietnam, ranking 9th among the largest foreign investors inVietnam.

The Vietnamese and Thai states need to have incentive policiesto facilitate good exchange, thus boosting export between the two countries,Dung said.

On the occasion, 15 Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) on cooperatioℱn between businesses in the north-central provinces ofVietnam and those from Laos and Thailand were signed./