Regional nations seek to boost commercial ties

Trade officials from 10 ASEAN countries and representatives of hundreds of businesses and airlines met in the Thai capital of Bangkok on March 26 to boost commercial relations within the bloc.

The event served as an opportunity for the ASEAN nations to compare notes on their new challenges and roadmaps toward the building of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015.

It also provided useful information regarding trade, tourism and investment for enterprises to expand business activities in the next five years.

Thai Deputy Minister of Commerce Veerasak Jinarat said the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), which removed trade barriers among the regional countries, has made the ASEAN an important export market for Thailand and other regional nations.

The establishment of the AEC will form an united market with 590 million consumers, laying a firm foundation for enhancing economic growth of the ASEAN countries.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Jinarat said Thailand highly evaluates Vietnam’s huge potential and high growth rate, adding that the meeting aimed to provide useful information to help Thai businesses pour more investments into Vietnam and other regional countries.

As major rice exporters in the world, Thailand and Vietnam need to work closely in this field, especially on issues related to prices and markets, he said.

Thailand has strived to increase its trade value with other ASEAN members from US$57 billion in 2009 to US$70 billion this year, including US$10 billion in trade with Vietnam.

Commercial Counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand Nguyen Thanh Hung said Vietnam’s trade relations with other ASEAN countries, particularly Thailand, have grown steadily due to the bloc’s efforts to ease non-tariff barriers.

Hung also highlighted Vietnam’s opportunities and challenges once it fully joined the AEC, such as the reduction of export tariff to 0 percent and the deeper penetration of Vietnamese goods into the regional market.

VNA/VOVNews

Tags: Vietnam asean cooperation