On March 6, in Hanoi The President of Vietnam - Thailand Friendship Association Nguyen Van
Thanh welcomed the delegation of the Thailand - Vietnam Friendship Association,
led by its President Sanan Angubolkul on their work visit to Vietnam on the
occasion of the 10th founding anniversary of Vietnam - Thailand strategic
partnership. The
Vietnam - Thailand Friendship Association and the Thailand - Vietnam Friendship
Association agree to work on realizing their roles in creating businesses
network and implementing people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

The two Associations informed each other about the program of activities in
2023 (Photo: Thu Ha).
Among the upcoming bilateral cooperation activities
discussed at the meeting, the Vietnam - Thailand Friendship Association
proposed the 12th annual joint conference between the two Associations by the
end of the third quarter of 2023. The President of Vietnam - Thailand
Friendship Association Nguyen Van Thanh said that the 12th annual joint
conference will be carried out together with the 2nd Vietnam-Thailand People's
Friendship Festival. By the end of the fourth quarter of 2023, there will be a
scientific conference in coordination with the Vietnam - Thailand Friendship
Association of Thua Thien Hue province.
Thanh reaffirmed that the establishment of the Vietnam -
Thailand Friendship Association in Thai Nguyen province will soon be realized,
to promote the friendship and cooperation between the two sister provinces Thai
Nguyen and Udon Thani. In May 2023, a delegation of the Vietnam - Thailand
Friendship Association led by the President of the Association will go to
Thailand on a work visit
According to Thanh, the current global and regional
context is complex with many issues, namely environmental pollution, natural
disasters, epidemics, free migration, transnational crime, human trafficking.
Countries must actively cooperate, especially in the field of people-to-people
diplomacy, to respond and reduce risks to countries, territories, communities.
He emphasized that, despite many difficulties and
challenges, the long-term tradition of cooperation and the efforts of the
government, businesses and people are an important foundation for continuing to
bring Vietnam-Thailand relations to the next level. new development.
In response, President of the Thailand - Vietnam Friendship
Association, President of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) Sanan Angubolkul
affirmed that the two associations play an important role in building and
promoting Thailand - Vietnam relations in all fields, especially between
private businesses and people-to-people exchanges..
Also, he discussed the pending cooperation agreement
between Udon Thani province (Thailand) and Thai Nguyen province (Vietnam) and
said that the two associations need to be ready so that after the Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) on cooperation between these two localities is signed, the
cooperation programs will be immediately implemented. There needs to be
coordination between two Associations to implement activities to connect small
and medium enterprises of Thailand and Vietnam in the distribution channels, to
organize community benefit projects...
In addition, the two Associations will coordinate to
organize the Thailand - Vietnam Business Forum 2023. This is an opportunity for
businesses of the two countries to meet, exchange information with each other,
and at the same time promote the signing of MOUs between young Thai and Viet
businesses, support job seekers.
The Thailand - Vietnam Friendship Association will also
organize exchange activities in the field of innovation; sending volunteer
doctors to Vietnam for medical examination and treatment; provide scholarships
to Vietnamese students. In particular, it will organize the first ever student
exchange project for Thai students to exchange in Vietnam and vice versa by the
third quarter of 2023.

Delegations from Thailand and Vietnam at the meeting (Photo: Thu Ha).
Both sides agreed that
two Associations would meet every six months to coordinate the implementation
of the discussed plans.