Thailand-VN ties grow significantly

THAILAND — Co-operation between Viet Nam and Thailand had significantly developed in the past years, particularly in trade and investment, said Nguyen Thanh Bien, deputy minister of Industry and Trade.

Bien was speaking at a conference on business and investment opportunities in Viet Nam held in Khon Kaen Province, Thailand, on Wednesday.

The stable political situation was a decisive factor in the growth of investment, as was the attractiveness of the country, Bien added.

He said Viet Nam was in the process of perfecting its legal system in accordance with international standards, while streamlining administrative procedures by as much as 30 per cent and improving the country's infrastructure to make it more attractive to foreign investors.

From 2007-09, bilateral trade grew annually by 10.6 per cent. Last year, despite the global economic downturn, two-way trade topped US$6.1 billion and is expected to hit $10 billion over the next few years.

In the first half of this year, Viet Nam's exports to Thailand rose 4 per cent, while its imports increased by 43 per cent.

As of August, Thai businesses had invested $34 million in 12 projects in Viet Nam, making it the 18th biggest investor in the country. — VNS

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Thai scholars: Vietnam, a country of opportunities

Thailand attracts 360,000 Vietnamese tourists each year

Photo: Tuoi Tre

The Thai scholar circle has extolled Vietnam as a country with favorable investment environment, saying they believed in further development of the bilateral cooperative relationship, despite challenges.

At a seminar on the Thailand-Vietnam relationship held in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, adviser Wittaya Supatanakul from Thammasat University’s Centre for Research and Development of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, highlighted the strengths of Vietnam, which he called a country of opportunities.

Vietnam has a big market with more than 87 million consumers, high purchasing power and cheap production and labour costs, while sharing cultural similarities with Thailand, said Wittaya, adding that Vietnam enjoys political stability and an investment encouragement policy and welcomes small and medium-sized enterprises to do business in the country.

On Vietnam’s investment environment, Wittaya said Vietnam offers foreign entrepreneurs and investors the benefits of social security and public order.

Its government policies welcome investors and facilitate necessary procedures while its industrial zones offer one-stop-shop services and openings in various fields, he said.

Nguyen Hong Quang from the Hanoi’s East Asia Institute presented a report on, “The Vietnam-Siam relationship in the 17 th and 18th century: a common picture on the two countries’ relationship and Vietnamese people’s way of looking at Siam ”.

At present, Thailand ranks tenth among more than 100 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 216 projects totalling more than US$5.7 billion. Two-way trade exceeded $6.1 billion last year and the neighbouring countries are striving to raise bilateral trade value to $10 billion.

The seminar was jointly held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ East Asia Department and Thammasat University ’s East Asia Research Institute of Thailand.

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Thai scholars: Vietnam, a country of opportunities

The Thai scholar circle has extolled Vietnam as a country with
favourable investment environment, saying they believed in further
development of the bilateral cooperative relationship, despite
challenges.

At a seminar on the Thailand-Vietnam
relationship held in Bangkok, Thailand, on Sept. 21, adviser
Wittaya Supatanakul from Thammasat University’s Centre for Research
and Development of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam,
highlighted the strengths of Vietnam, which he called a country of
opportunities.

Vietnam has a big market with
more than 87 million consumers, high purchasing power and cheap
production and labour costs, while sharing cultural similarities with
Thailand, said Wittaya, adding that Vietnam enjoys political
stability and an investment encouragement policy and welcomes small and
medium-sized enterprises to do business in the country.

On Vietnam ’s investment environment, Wittaya said Vietnam offers
foreign entrepreneurs and investors the benefits of social security and
public order.

Its government policies welcome
investors and facilitate necessary procedures while its industrial zones
offer one-stop-shop services and openings in various fields, he said.

Nguyen Hong Quang from the Hanoi’s East Asia
Institute presented a report on, “The Vietnam-Siam relationship in the
17 th and 18 th century: a common picture on the two countries’
relationship and Vietnamese people’s way of looking at Siam ”.

At present, Thailand ranks tenth among more than 100 countries and
territories investing in Vietnam with 216 projects totalling more
than 5.7 billion USD. Two-way trade exceeded 6.1 billion USD last year
and the neighbouring countries are striving to raise bilateral trade
value to 10 billion USD.

The seminar was jointly
held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ East Asia Department and
Thammasat University ’s East Asia Research Institute of Thailand./.

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Local tour operators honored in Thailand

HCMC – The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s HCMC Office has announced five Vietnam travel agencies that have won The Friends of Thailand awards.

The five are Saigontourist Travel Service, Vietravel Marketing and Tourist Company, Tan Dinh Trade and Travel Service Company (known as Fiditourist), Ben Thanh Tourist, and TST Tourist.

The Thai tourism authority has also presented a personal award to Duong Thi Thu Thuy, reporter of Travel & Entertainment magazine, and an international press award to Doanh Nhan Sai Gon newspaper.

The Friends of Thailand awards are designed to honor individuals, organizations and tourism companies in recognition of their contributions to the tourism development of the “Land of Smile”. The international press award is for articles that introduce and promote images, country, people and new tourist destinations in Thailand.

The Friends of Thailand was launched by Tourism Authority of Thailand in 1996 and every two years, the awards are presented to contributors to Thai tourism. The 2010 award ceremony will be held in Bangkok in late September.

Vietravel, one of the five award winners, says that over the past ten years, the number of tourists traveling to Thailand under its arrangement has leapt over 20 times. Its average tourism growth for the Thailand sector is 25-35%.

In the first six months of the year, the number of people booking Thailand tours at Vietravel was nearly 15,000, and the tour operator expects to arrange tours to Thailand for a total of 25,000 tourists, up 20% from last year.

Every year, Thailand welcomes around 14 million international tourists, including 30,000 from Vietnam, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

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