Vietnamese PM meets Thai NLA President

BANGKOK, July 23 (TNA) - Visiting Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has met Thai National Legislative Assembly (NLA) President Pornpetch Wichitcholchai in Bangkok, during which both sides stressed on long-standing Vietnamese-Thai relations in all dimensions. The Vietnamese prime minister, who led his entourage, including his Cabinet's members and his wife, for a one-day official visit to Thailand on July 23 as the guest of the Thai government, was honourably received by the Thai NLA president at the Thai Parliament building in Bangkok on Thursday afternoon. In his welcoming statement, the Thai NLA president acknowledged close relations in all areas between Hanoi and Bangkok, describing Vietnam as an important strategic and economic partner of Thailand. The Thai NLA president noted that Vietnam and Thailand have prepared for activities to jointly celebrate the 40th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2016. The Thai NLA president also pointed out that Vietnamese and Thai cultural relations have been particularly strengthened for a long time, witnessed by the establishment of the Vietnamese-Thai Friendship Village in Ban Na Chok in Muang District of Nakhon Phanom Province in the Thai Northeast, where late Vietnamese revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh once resided and personally sponsored the construction of a language school, symbolising sound and long-standing relations between Vietnam and Thailand. In a corresponding statement, the visiting Vietnamese prime minister informed of agreements signed between Hanoi and Bangkok during his one-day trip to Thailand, aimed to further strengthen bilateral relations at all levels, including those on elderly ties. The visiting Vietnamese leader also insisted on sound relations between Vietnam and Thailand in all dimensions, including economic and educational spheres, as well as tourism and labour, which have yielded benefits to people of both countries. On the occasion, the Vietnamese leader urged that the joint Vietnamese-Thai strategic plan be implemented by both member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in order to efficiently sustain their bilateral cooperation in the long run. (TNA)