Bangkok (VNA) – Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son met with Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn as part of his official visit toThailand from April 10-12, where he is also co-chairing the 5th Meeting ofthe Vietnam - Thailand Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC).

Son congratulated Thailand on the achievements it has made during thepost-COVID-19 recovery period, believing that the country will continue reapingfurther successes in building itself into a prosperous nation that plays anactive role in the region and the world.

The Vietnamese diplomat also expressed his gratitude for the sentiments that theThai King and the Princess herself have given to Vietnam, with the Princess’s song and performance about Vietnam, called “Vietnam an long” (Vietnam at peace),at Chulalongkorn University being a vivid illustration.

He spoke highly of the projects sponsored by the Princess, including one onimproving the quality of life for children and youths in Asia – Pacific, hopingthat the she will re-visit Vietnam soon.

The Thai Princess, for her part, hailed Vietnam’s rapid socio-economic developmentover the past time, and affirmed that she will continue carrying out supportprojects in Vietnam.

She agreed to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community inThailand, and back the preservation and promotion of the Vietnamese culturalvalues in Thailand, thereby contributing to the friendship and cooperation between thetwo nations.

Son then paid a courtesy call on Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, during which heconveyed Vietnamese leaders’ regards and greetings to Thailand on the occasion of the Songkranfestival.

The Vietnam – Thailand cooperative ties are at their best, hestressed, affirming economic connectivity between the two countries aims atovercoming disadvantages in the spirit of “cooperation for mutual benefit and development”.

He urged both sides to remove bottlenecks and facilitate trade, striving torealise the target of  25 billion USD in two-way trade revenue by 2025 in a more balanced direction.

Commending Thailand’s initiatives, Son agreedto boost tourism cooperation with regional countries, and held that it is necessaryto work together to develop infrastructure and multimodal transport.

He also suggested enhancing the teaching of Vietnamese and Thai languages in eachnation, and promote Vietnamese cultural and historical values in Thailand,particularly the monuments dedicated to President Ho Chi Minh in Nakhon Phanom,Udon Thani and Phichit.

Srettha applauded the significance of the JCBC mechanism to strengthening bilateralcooperation in all areas, making the Thailand - Vietnam Enhanced Strategic Partnership developto a deeper and more practical way that brings benefits to the people ofeach nation.

Thailand attaches much importance to bolstering its cooperative ties withVietnam in all fields, particularly in economy, trade and investment, he affirmed,hoping to concretise the cooperation through specific projects within the “ThreeConnections” initiative.

He also recommended Vietnam to coordinate to roll out the “several countries, onedestination” to enhance tourism cooperation.

Additionally, the Thai PM expected that Vietnam will encourage airlines to open a direct service to Udon Thani city where a large number of Vietnamese expats areliving to promote tourism and people-to-people exchanges./.