Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam is continuing to strengthen its position as an attractive destination for Thai investors, driven by improvements in the country’s business and investment climate as well as the newly elevated Vietnam-Thailand Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

The momentum was expected to be highlighted at the upcoming Vietnam–Thailand Business Forum, scheduled to take place in Bangkok on May 28, on the sidelines of the official visit to Thailand by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and State President To Lam from May 27 to 29.

The forum is expected to bring together hundreds of business leaders and corporate representatives from both countries to exchange ideas, discuss investment opportunities and potentially sign agreements worth hundreds of millions of US dollars. It is seen as a continuation of commitments made by the two countries’ high-ranking leaders last year to create the most favourable conditions for enterprises and investors to expand operations in each other’s markets.

Among the participants are expected to be President and CEO Thammasak Sethaudom and Vietnam Country Director Kulachet Dharachandra of the Siam Cement Group (SCG). In remarks to the Vietnam Financial Times, Kulachet Dharachandra said that Vietnam has remained a strategic investment destination for SCG for more than three decades. Beyond expanding investment scale, the Thai conglomerate places strong emphasis on technology transfer, green governance and cooperation with local partners to enhance industrial capacity and jointly pursue net-zero emissions goals. In 2025 alone, SCG contributed more than 31.5 million USD to Vietnam’s state budget, underscoring its long-term commitment to the country.

The company is also investing an additional 500 million USD to upgrade the Long Son Petrochemicals complex through an ethane feedstock integration project aimed at enhancing operational flexibility, strengthening long-term competitiveness and supporting lower-carbon production processes.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Finance, as of late April. Thailand had run 805 valid investment projects in Vietnam with total registered capital exceeding 15.4 billion USD, making it rank as Vietnam’s eighth-largest foreign investor globally and the second-largest among ASEAN member states.

Dinh Hoang Linh, Vietnamese Consul General in Khon Kaen, stated that Vietnam offers business opportunities that Thai enterprises “should not miss,” given a market of more than 100 million people, a young workforce, an extensive network of free trade agreements and attractive investment incentives.

Trade cooperation between the two countries continues to expand rapidly. Thailand remains Vietnam’s largest trading partner in Southeast Asia, with bilateral trade reaching 22.07 billion USD in 2025. Both sides have set a target of raising two-way trade to 25 billion USD in the near future.

In the first four months of 2026, two-way trade turnover reached 8.6 billion USD, including 3.76 billion USD in Vietnamese exports, up 36.2% year-on-year, and 4.84 billion USD in imports from Thailand, an increase of 15%.

The two countries are also stepping up cooperation in digital transformation, financial technology and innovation. Vietnamese and Thai agencies are expected to intensify collaboration in science, technology and innovation, and promote cross-border digital transactions, e-commerce and digital financial services.

Kulachet Dharachandra noted that SCG is strengthening digital cooperation with Vietnamese partners, including through a memorandum of understanding signed with FPT to accelerate digital transformation and smart governance initiatives across SCG’s operations in Vietnam.

He added that SCG subsidiaries are increasingly applying artificial intelligence, automation, robotics and the Internet of Things to improve operational efficiency, product quality and manufacturing flexibility at facilities across Vietnam./.