Vietnam, Thailand to expand business cooperation

BANGKOK, February 16 (TNA) - Vietnam and Thailand have agreed to expand bilateral cooperation on trade and investment to 20 billion US dollars by 2020, as well as on security, fishery and labour safety. Deputy Government Spokesman Major General Werachon Sukondhapatipak told journalists that the agreement was reached during bilateral talks between Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his Thai counterpart General Prayut Chan-ocha, held in the California State on February 15 (local time) on the sidelines of the ASEAN-US Leaders Summit in Sunnylands, Rancho Mirage City. The deputy spokesman said the two government leaders hailed the 40th anniversary of the diplomatic relation between Vietnam and Thailand this year and then agreed on the issues. According to the deputy spokesman, the Vietnamese prime minister took the opportunity to thank the Thai government for being flexible in allowing more Vietnamese workers to register to legally work in Thailand. The deputy spokesman noted that the Vietnamese premier asked for the Thai government to expand cooperation in the fishing industry, covering the prevention and suppression on illegal fishing and other acts, through establishing a joint hotline. The deputy spokesman revealed that the Thai prime minister agreed on his Vietnamese counterpart's proposals, especially on security, and then proposed that the expanded cooperation be extended to other member countries in the ASEAN Community (AC) so that the regional grouping could have more bargaining power in dealing with superpowers. Regarding fishing cooperation, the deputy spokesman stated that the Thai prime minister admitted the problems of nationality verification and labour registration have remained and appropriate measures should be imposed from the country of origin. (TNA)