Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung and Permanent Secretary of Thailand’s Foreign Ministry Norachit Sinhaseni co-chaired the fifth political consultation between the two ministries on June 29 in Hanoi.

The two sides agreed that the relationship between the two countries is growing in all fields, especially since Vietnam and Thailand signed an action plan to realise their strategic partnership for the 2014-18 period.

This year, the two countries have organised a number of high-level visits, including the visit of Thai Princess Sirindhorn and a working trip to Thailand by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh in May.

Meanwhile, bilateral economic, trade and investment ties have been expanded with two-way trade reaching 10.6 billion USD in 2014 and 2.6 billion USD in the first quarter of 2015.

As of now, Thailand is the 10th largest investor in Vietnam with total investment of 6.69 billion USD, they noted.

At the same time, cooperation mechanisms between the two countries have proved their efficiency as seen in the success of meetings of the Joint Committee on bilateral cooperation in March and the Joint Working Group on politics and security in June this year.

Both sides agreed to continue the exchange of delegations at all levels, while coordinating closely in preparing for the third joint Cabinet meeting co-chaired by the Prime Ministers of both countries.

They concurred to foster affiliation in security, defence, economy, trade, investment, transport, tourism and labour, while working closely for the early signing of a memorandum of understanding on labour cooperation and an agreement on recruitment.

At the same time, the two foreign ministries will continue coordinating in organising activities celebrating the 40 th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties in 2016.

The two sides also agreed to continue supporting each other at regional and international forums, especially within the ASEAN framework in the context that the ASEAN Community is to be formed by the end of this year. They vow to work with other members of the grouping in maintaining the role and common stance of the bloc in strategic issues in the region.

The 6 th political consultation between the two ministries is slated for Thailand in 2016.

VNA