VN President hails Thailand-Vietnam relationship

HANOI, VIETNAM, November 28 (TNA) - Vietnam's President Troung Tan Sang has hailed diplomatic relations between Thailand and Vietnam, which will enjoy the 40th anniversary in 2016. Thai Government Spokesman Dr. Yongyuth Mayalarp told TNA that the Vietnamese president expressed his appreciation to the sound bilateral relations between Hanoi and Bangkok when visiting Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha paid a courtesy call on him at his presidential office in Hanoi, Vietnam's capital, on Thursday evening (local time). The spokesman said that the Vietnamese president also commended Thailand for signing the 2014–2018 strategic partnership with Hanoi, making Vietnam the only member country in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Thailand has inked the accord with so far. The spokesman stated that the Thai prime minister, who is also Chief of the army-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), later paid a courtesy call on Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Nguyen Sinh Hung, during which the latter also expressed his satisfaction with warm relations between the Vietnamese and Thai Parliaments. On the occasion, the Thai prime minister informed the Vietnamese National Assembly chair that a delegation of Thai parliamentarians will visit Vietnam to attend the 132nd Inter-parliamentary Union (IPU) General Assembly in Hanoi in March-April 2015 and he wants to see close cooperation between Vietnamese and Thai lawmakers. The Thai prime minister is making a two-day official visit to Vietnam, aimed at, like his earlier official trips to Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, familiarising himself with leaders of ASEAN neighbouring countries. Accompanied by his entourage, the Thai prime minister is scheduled to return home on Friday afternoon, concluding his latest official visits to Laos, from November 26-27, and Vietnam, from November 27-28. (TNA)