The day is also the birth anniversary of late King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the Father’s Day of Thailand.
Thai Consul General Wiraka Moodhitaporn said cultural and social relations, especially at the people-to-people level, form a stepping stone for cooperation between Thailand and Vietnam.
She noted mutual understanding and cohesion between the two peoples will create favourable conditions for promoting bilateral trade, investment, and business ties to help raise bilateral trade to 25 billion USD as targeted by the countries’ leaders.
The Thai Consulate General in HCM City will continue stepping up people-to-people connectivity, she went on, adding that it is ready to strengthen all-round cooperation with HUFO, the Vietnam - Thailand Friendship Association, the city’s liaison board for Vietnamese expatriates in Laos and Thailand, and the Vietnam - ASEAN Friendship Association in HCM City to promote bilateral friendship for the sake of common interests.
Dinh Khac Duy, Chairman of the Vietnam - Thailand Friendship Association in HCM City, highlighted the two countries’ flourishing relations in all aspects, especially politics, security, defence, economy, and trade.
During his visit to Thailand and attendance in the 29th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in November, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to augmenting the strategic partnership with Thailand, Duy said.
Bilateral trade increased 18% from 2020 to 18.8 billion USD in 2021 and stood at 16.1 billion USD in the first nine months of 2022, up 17.2% year on year.
He added that over the past years, his association has worked with the Thai Consulate General and the Thai Business Association in HCM City to effectively organise many people-to-people exchanges, including granting scholarships for disadvantaged students.
So far, the Vietnam - Thailand scholarship fund has granted over 580 scholarships totalling 750 million VND (31,200 USD) to students in HCM City.
At the gathering, the Thai Consulate General, through the Vietnam - Thailand Friendship Association in HCM City, presented 20 scholarships to students of the Thai language faculty of the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
