preferential investment policies, taxation, land leasing and ownership
as well as schools for learning Vietnamese.
At a
seminar on business and investment opportunities and challenges in
Vietnam in Thailand ’s north-eastern province of Khon Kaen on
September 29, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien
said that this is a practical way of implementing commitments to the
ASEAN Economic Community and expanding cooperation along the East-West
Economic Corridor to increase two-way trade.
Deputy
Minister Bien said that despite the impacts of the global financial
crisis, two-way trade recorded an average increase of 10.6 percent in
the 2007-09 period and a year-on-year rise of 25.1 percent to 4.25
billion USD in the first eight months of this year.
In August 2010, Thailand was ranked 10th out of the foreign
investors in Vietnam with 237 projects, totalling 5.7 billion USD,
he said.
Vietnam boasts political stability and
an improved legal system and infrastructure, he said, adding that the
nation will soon become an important gateway to other big markets in
Southeast Asia.
He said that Vietnam’s market
is developing stably and safely and the country is cutting tariffs under
the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) while further integrating
into the global economy.
For his part, the acting
Mayor of Khon Kaen province Payat Chanparsert said that by being ASEAN
members, Thailand and Vietnam have made considerable progress,
especially the relationship between his province and regions of
Vietnam.
The participation of large numbers of
Thai representatives reflects their wishes to promote bilateral trade
and investment ties, he stressed./.
