Vietnamese Consul General Dinh Hoang Linh (second from right) speaks at the seminar

In his speech, Dinh Hoang Linh, Vietnamese consul general in Thailand, emphasised that after nearly 40 years of implementing the Doi Moi (Renewal) process, Vietnam is entering a new era of national prosperity and development, and the seminar is expected to partly contribute to concretising the country’s goals in the new era.

Linh said, Thailand’s northeast region is a large area and boasts a geostrategic position located in the East-West economic corridor, linking to central Vietnamese provinces.

Based on geographical proximity, cultural and historical similarities, there remains ample room for economic, trade, and investment collaboration between Vietnam and the Northeastern Thai provinces, especially in the spheres of infrastructure and logistics, agricultural production and food processing, renewable energy, creative technology, as well as innovation and tourism, Linh noted.

Sharing this perspective, Sanan, president of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, underscored the significance of the seminar in realising the goal of raising two-way trade turnover to US$25 billion by 2027.

He expected that bilateral relations would be further consolidated as the Thai Prime Minister is scheduled to pay an official visit to Vietnam this May, and the two countries are set to upgrade their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the visit.

An overview of the MoU signing ceremony at the event

For his part, Steve Bui, chairman of Delta E&C Group, revealed that he visited Khon Kaen University and realised that huge opportunities exist between the two sides through fully tapping into investment cooperation, especially in the exchange of students and establishment of AI technology labs and digital transformation.

Vietnamese businesses signed a number of memorandums of understanding on cooperation with Thai businesses and made a field trip to a number of businesses facilities in the Northeast of Thailand.