The Thai Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, has expressed hissatisfaction at Vietnam-Thailand relations and stressed good prospectsfor cooperation among ASEAN.
“I am very pleasedwith the overall bilateral relations, as it has been progressing andexpanding well in all fields, encompassing political and security, tradeand investment, social and economic development, technicalcooperation”, PM Abhisit said in an interview granted to the VietnamNews Agency’s Bangkok correspondent prior to his trip to Vietnam toattend the 17 th ASEAN Summit and related meetings on Oct. 28-30.
“Thailand and Vietnam are two of the largest economies in mainlandSoutheast Asia. Therefore, we could serve as growth catalysts to theregion and help stimulate development in our neighbouring countries,” hesaid, adding Thailand looks forward to enhancing closer cooperationwith Vietnam in this regard.
He quoted statisticsfigures that in the first six months of 2010 bilateral trade increasedby 28.52 percent compared to that of the same period in 2009.
“Indeed, Vietnam has made remarkable economic achievement. Thailand isalso pleased that her investment and development cooperation haveplayed a part in Vietnam’s development success, as Thailand is the 10thmain investor in Vietnam with about 5.7 billion USD accumulatedinvestment value from 1988 to 2009,” Abhisit said.
He stressed the strategic partnership as well as cooperation betweenThailand and Vietnam within various frameworks of ASEAN will also serveas their common resource in tackling the many challenges caused byglobalisation and changing geopolitical landscape.
The Thai PM went on to say that “Closer cooperation will also generatewider benefits to both Mekong Sub-region as well as ASEAN at large.Thailand reiterates its support for Vietnam as the ASEAN representativeat the G20 next month.”
Abhisit affirmed thatprospects of bilateral cooperation are very promising saying thatseveral meetings have been planned for 2011, all of which will serve as adriving force in bilateral cooperation, while people-to-peopleconnectivity is vital and fundamental to an amicable and long-lastingrelationship.
He congratulated Vietnam on the1000th Anniversary of the establishment of Hanoi City and also on therecognition of Thang Long Royal Citadel as the World Heritage by UNESCO.
Discussing cooperation within the Association ofthe Southeast Asian Nations, the Thai PM said the ASEAN region is one ofgreat potential and the potential would be further strengthened by itsextra-regional connections, quoting estimations that by 2015, thepopulation will reach 625 million and the GDP 2.69 trillion USD.
“Realising the ASEAN Community is no easy task, but despite thesechallenges, ASEAN has significantly advanced in its community-buildingagenda and there have been many concrete developments. So for ASEAN, thekey challenge is to stay the course in community-building as a whole,”he said.
According to the Thai PM, in recent years,there has been a growing interest in the discussion on regionalcooperation through a new regional architecture in East Asia andAsia-Pacific. Such interest is driven by the fact that the world’seconomic centre is shifting from the Atlantic to the Pacific with EastAsia as a hub. Regional integration in East Asia is, therefore, in aparamount interest not only to countries in East Asia, but also to therest of the world.
“So for ASEAN, we stress ourdetermination to maintain centrality in current ASEAN-led mechanisms andin the emerging regional architecture. ASEAN agreed to adopt atwo-prong approach with priority given to the acceleration of ASEANintegration and community building while intensifying ASEAN externalrelations with its dialogue partners. ASEAN also agreed that any newregional framework or process should be complementary to and built uponexisting regional mechanisms and respect the principle of ASEANcentrality,” he said.
He stressed that Thailand,like other ASEAN Member States, recognises and supports the mutuallyreinforcing roles of the existing regional mechanisms such as ASEAN+1,ASEAN+3, East Asia Summit (EAS), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), TrilateralCooperation and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which wouldhelp promote East Asian cooperation and integration.
According to Abhisit, each mechanism has its own value and distinctiveroles that have contributed so far to peace, stability and prosperityin the region.
“As we are gearing up towards therealisation of the ASEAN Community in 2015, our economic integration hasadvanced and become relatively strong. ASEAN will continue to do itsjob to ensure the relevancy of the existing mechanisms as well asfurther promote regional economic integration. I am certain that ASEANcentrality remains indispensable in future regional integrationprocess,” said the Thai PM./.
“I am very pleasedwith the overall bilateral relations, as it has been progressing andexpanding well in all fields, encompassing political and security, tradeand investment, social and economic development, technicalcooperation”, PM Abhisit said in an interview granted to the VietnamNews Agency’s Bangkok correspondent prior to his trip to Vietnam toattend the 17 th ASEAN Summit and related meetings on Oct. 28-30.
“Thailand and Vietnam are two of the largest economies in mainlandSoutheast Asia. Therefore, we could serve as growth catalysts to theregion and help stimulate development in our neighbouring countries,” hesaid, adding Thailand looks forward to enhancing closer cooperationwith Vietnam in this regard.
He quoted statisticsfigures that in the first six months of 2010 bilateral trade increasedby 28.52 percent compared to that of the same period in 2009.
“Indeed, Vietnam has made remarkable economic achievement. Thailand isalso pleased that her investment and development cooperation haveplayed a part in Vietnam’s development success, as Thailand is the 10thmain investor in Vietnam with about 5.7 billion USD accumulatedinvestment value from 1988 to 2009,” Abhisit said.
He stressed the strategic partnership as well as cooperation betweenThailand and Vietnam within various frameworks of ASEAN will also serveas their common resource in tackling the many challenges caused byglobalisation and changing geopolitical landscape.
The Thai PM went on to say that “Closer cooperation will also generatewider benefits to both Mekong Sub-region as well as ASEAN at large.Thailand reiterates its support for Vietnam as the ASEAN representativeat the G20 next month.”
Abhisit affirmed thatprospects of bilateral cooperation are very promising saying thatseveral meetings have been planned for 2011, all of which will serve as adriving force in bilateral cooperation, while people-to-peopleconnectivity is vital and fundamental to an amicable and long-lastingrelationship.
He congratulated Vietnam on the1000th Anniversary of the establishment of Hanoi City and also on therecognition of Thang Long Royal Citadel as the World Heritage by UNESCO.
Discussing cooperation within the Association ofthe Southeast Asian Nations, the Thai PM said the ASEAN region is one ofgreat potential and the potential would be further strengthened by itsextra-regional connections, quoting estimations that by 2015, thepopulation will reach 625 million and the GDP 2.69 trillion USD.
“Realising the ASEAN Community is no easy task, but despite thesechallenges, ASEAN has significantly advanced in its community-buildingagenda and there have been many concrete developments. So for ASEAN, thekey challenge is to stay the course in community-building as a whole,”he said.
According to the Thai PM, in recent years,there has been a growing interest in the discussion on regionalcooperation through a new regional architecture in East Asia andAsia-Pacific. Such interest is driven by the fact that the world’seconomic centre is shifting from the Atlantic to the Pacific with EastAsia as a hub. Regional integration in East Asia is, therefore, in aparamount interest not only to countries in East Asia, but also to therest of the world.
“So for ASEAN, we stress ourdetermination to maintain centrality in current ASEAN-led mechanisms andin the emerging regional architecture. ASEAN agreed to adopt atwo-prong approach with priority given to the acceleration of ASEANintegration and community building while intensifying ASEAN externalrelations with its dialogue partners. ASEAN also agreed that any newregional framework or process should be complementary to and built uponexisting regional mechanisms and respect the principle of ASEANcentrality,” he said.
He stressed that Thailand,like other ASEAN Member States, recognises and supports the mutuallyreinforcing roles of the existing regional mechanisms such as ASEAN+1,ASEAN+3, East Asia Summit (EAS), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), TrilateralCooperation and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which wouldhelp promote East Asian cooperation and integration.
According to Abhisit, each mechanism has its own value and distinctiveroles that have contributed so far to peace, stability and prosperityin the region.
“As we are gearing up towards therealisation of the ASEAN Community in 2015, our economic integration hasadvanced and become relatively strong. ASEAN will continue to do itsjob to ensure the relevancy of the existing mechanisms as well asfurther promote regional economic integration. I am certain that ASEANcentrality remains indispensable in future regional integrationprocess,” said the Thai PM./.
