Attending the event were Member of the Party Central Committee, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Ministry, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Manh Cuong; Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Phu Tho Province Tran Duy Dong, Thai Ambassador to Vietnam Urawadee Sriphiromya, along with nearly 400 delegates, including leaders from ministries, sectors, localities, diplomatic missions, business associations, investors, and enterprises from both countries.

Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Manh Cuong speaks at the event. (Photo: Thanh Long)

Three proposals to promote substantial cooperation

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Manh Cuong emphasised that the event takes place during the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Thailand (August 6, 1976 - August 6, 2026). After half a century, the relationship between the two countries has developed strongly, becoming one of the most dynamic and effective relationships in the region.

According to Deputy Minister Nguyen Manh Cuong, the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries continues to be strengthened and developed robustly, with a solid economic-political foundation, dynamic economic activities, and increasingly close people-to-people exchanges. Cooperation across channels from the Party, National Assembly, and people is highly prioritized for expansion.

The visit to Thailand by General Secretary, President To Lam in May 2026, followed by the official visit to Vietnam by Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul in early June 2026, along with the Action Program to implement the comprehensive strategic partnership for the period 2026-2031, has created new momentum, opening up broader cooperation space for the next development phase between the two countries.

Thailand is currently Vietnam's largest trading partner in ASEAN, while Vietnam is Thailand's sixth-largest trading partner globally. The total import-export turnover in 2025 reached 22.07 billion USD, and the two countries are aiming for 25 billion USD and further to 50 billion USD in the future. Vietnam is an important investment destination for Thai businesses with 805 active projects, totaling registered capital of 15.4 billion USD.

Local-level cooperation and people-to-people exchanges continue to be a prominent highlight with 20 local pairs having established cooperative and twinning relationships. Local cooperation has shifted strongly from traditional friendly exchanges to substantial, specialized development cooperation, jointly creating new growth drivers. These results reflect the strategic depth, social cohesion, and high political trust between the two countries.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Manh Cuong stressed that smart urban development has become an important component in the strategy to enhance national competitiveness, promote green growth, digital transformation, and ensure sustainable quality of life for the people.

“For Vietnam, developing smart cities is a comprehensive transformation process of development models, governance models, and growth models of localities towards modernity, efficiency, sustainability, and higher international competitiveness. Vietnam prioritizes promoting the development of digital infrastructure, data centers, artificial intelligence, digital government, smart transportation, modern logistics, clean energy, and innovation ecosystems. These are also areas where Thailand has extensive experience, potential, and successful development models,” the Deputy Minister pointed out.

With synchronized connectivity infrastructure and an attractive investment environment, especially after the organization and restructuring, which has facilitated resource mobilization, Deputy Minister Nguyen Manh Cuong assessed that Phu Tho is gradually affirming its position as a dynamic, sustainable development destination in the northern region, focusing on developing modern infrastructure, applying information technology in management and operation, building green, smart cities, with people as the center.

Highly appreciating the discussion topic of the Conference "Connecting Thailand and Vietnam: Smart Cities - A Driving Force for Economic Growth and Sustainable Development", the Deputy Minister proposed: Firstly, promoting connectivity, forming substantial cooperative networks between Vietnamese and Thai localities in smart urban development, including sharing modern governance experiences, applying data, artificial intelligence, and digital technology in urban management, transportation, environment, energy, and public service provision; aiming to build green, smart, livable cities centered around people.

Secondly, proposing mechanisms and policies to strengthen public-private partnerships (PPP), creating conditions for the business communities of both countries, especially large Thai corporations, to expand long-term investments, transfer technology, and develop large-scale projects focusing on strategic infrastructure development and innovation ecosystems in Vietnam.

Thirdly, enhancing Vietnam-Thailand cooperation in developing high-quality human resources and knowledge ecosystems in smart urban development, especially in digital technology, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, green technology, and modern urban governance.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to accompany and support Phu Tho in particular and localities nationwide in general. Foreign affairs serve development, acting as a bridge to connect Vietnamese provinces and cities with international partners, including Thailand; together promoting economic diplomacy, technology diplomacy, and innovation diplomacy more deeply, substantially, and effectively,” Deputy Minister Nguyen Manh Cuong affirmed.

Thai Ambassador to Vietnam Urawadee Sriphiromya speaking at the event. (Photo: Thanh Long)

Phu Tho attracts Thai investors

At the event, Thai Ambassador to Vietnam Urawadee Sriphiromya emphasised that Vietnam-Thailand relations are developing strongly and comprehensively across many fields, especially in economics, trade, and investment. The Ambassador noted that Vietnam is currently one of Thailand's top important partners in ASEAN, while Thailand remains Vietnam's largest trading partner in the region.

Along with the growth of bilateral trade turnover, more and more Thai businesses are expanding their investment activities in Vietnam, contributing to economic development and strengthening the ties between the two countries.

Highly appreciating the development potential of Phu Tho, Ambassador Urawadee Sriphiromya underlined that the province has a strategic location, favourable investment environment, and clear development orientation, attracting Thai investors.

She affirmed that the "Thai Connect in Phu Tho 2026" program is not only an opportunity to strengthen connections between localities, agencies, and businesses of the two countries but also opens up new cooperation opportunities in investment, trade, industry, and sustainable development.

The presence of many large Thai corporations at the program is evidence of the Thai business community's confidence in Vietnam's investment environment in general and Phu Tho province in particular.

Chairman of the People's Committee of Phu Tho Province Tran Duy Dong hopes the Conference results will open up more cooperation opportunities between Phu Tho province and Thai partners in various fields. (Photo: Thanh Long)

Aiming to attract more high-quality projects

Representing Phu Tho province, Chairman of the People's Committee Tran Duy Dong affirmed that the "Thai Connect in Phu Tho 2026" program is the largest foreign affairs event of the province in the series of activities commemorating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Thailand.

According to him, the event demonstrates Phu Tho's determination to implement the Party and State's policies on international integration, promoting the role of local foreign affairs in the new phase. It is also a vivid testament to the concretization of the Action Program to implement the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Thailand for the period 2026-2031, especially through the "Three Connections" strategy, including supply chain connection, business and local connection, and connecting sustainable growth strategies.

Chairman Tran Duy Dong highly appreciated the contributions of Thai businesses to the local socio-economic development and expressed the desire to continue attracting more high-quality projects in high technology, green energy, circular economy, and industrial infrastructure.

The provincial leadership of Phu Tho hopes: "The Conference results will open up more cooperation opportunities between Phu Tho province and Thai partners in various fields; from the Ancestral Land of the Vietnamese nation, the cooperation ideas initiated today will soon become concrete projects, creating new added values, forming new success symbols in the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Thailand."

Overview of the event. (Photo: Thanh Long)

At the event, many cooperation documents and investment commitments were handed over in the presence of the delegates. These include: a Letter of Intent on expanding CP Group's project in Phu Tho with a total expected capital of 320 million USD; memorandums of understanding on investment cooperation, expanding activities of businesses in the locality such as: Central Retail Vietnam Group, MM Mega Market Co., Ltd., AMATA Group, and AMATA's partners.

Signing ceremony, handing over cooperation documents between businesses and agencies, organizations of Phu Tho province. (Photo: Thanh Long)

Within the framework of the event, the button-pressing ceremony for the implementation of the Doan Hung Industrial Park - AMATA City Phu Tho project, invested by AMATA Group, took place.

With a scale of nearly 500 hectares, oriented towards developing as a modern ecological industrial park and high-tech manufacturing center of the region, the project is expected to create new growth momentum for the locality, while also being a testament to the attractiveness of Phu Tho province's investment environment and the confidence of Thai investors in the province's development prospects in the new phase.

Launching ceremony of the Doan Hung Industrial Park - AMATA City Phu Tho project. (Photo: Thanh Long)

The highlight of the program was the thematic discussion session titled "Connecting Thailand and Vietnam: Smart Cities - A Driving Force for Economic Growth and Sustainable Development", attracting the participation of managers, experts, businesses, and investors from both countries.

During the discussion session, delegates shared experiences, exchanged smart urban development models, digital transformation, and green growth, and proposed many solutions to promote Vietnam-Thailand cooperation in the upcoming period.

The discussions focused on topics including: orientations and policies for smart city development; requirements for building digital infrastructure, smart transportation, smart energy, and modern urban governance; the implementation of the "Three Connections" strategy between the two countries.

Additionally, delegates analyzed the challenges and proposed solutions to enhance the effectiveness of smart city development, aiming for sustainable development and improving the quality of life for the people.

Press corner of the World and Vietnam Report at the Thai Connect in Phu Tho 2026 event. (Photo: Thanh Long)