The potential to boost trade and investment ties between Thailand and HCM City is huge since economic linkages between the two countries has been expanding rapidly, a forum has heard.
Speaking at the Thailand-HCM City Business Connection Forum on Friday in HCM City, Vo Van Hoan, deputy chairman of the city People’s Committee, said the city has been one of Thailand’s leading investment partners for years.
Investors from Thailand had invested more than US$482 million in 235 projects as of last year, making Thailand the city’s 12th largest FDI partner out of 116 countries and territories.
Most of Thailand's projects in the city were in chemicals, food, construction materials, tourism, warehousing, and logistics industries.
Last year trade between Thailand and HCM City was worth more than $2.8 billion.
Viet Nam’s ambassador to Thailand, Phan Chi Thanh, said the overseas Vietnamese business community plays a vital role in trade and investment ties between the two countries.
Around 1,000 businesses are owned by ethnic Vietnamese in Thailand, most of them small or medium-sized and in a wide range of sectors, he said.
Many of them have been expanding their business in Viet Nam, but their number is modest compared to Thai-owned businesses investing in the country, he said.
He said a distribution network of high-quality products from Viet Nam should be set up in Thailand and reciprocated in HCM City.
Ho Van Lam, chairman of the Thailand- Viet Nam Business Association, said trade, investment and tourism promotion events should be regularly organised in Thailand to foster trade and investment exchanges with overseas Vietnamese and Thai businesses.
Nguyen Van Minh, an overseas Vietnamese entrepreneur in Bangkok, said Thai products are increasingly consumed in Viet Nam but the reverse is not true.
The overseas Vietnamese business community is a good channel to help expand the distribution of Vietnamese goods in Thailand, he said.
Thai businesses are seeking long-term co-operation with businesses in HCM City in fields such as high-tech agriculture, digital transformation, education, and tourism, he added.
Thailand has risen to become Viet Nam’s biggest trading partner in ASEAN and the ninth largest foreign investor in Viet Nam with more than 600 projects worth more than $13 billion.
Trade between the two countries was worth $5 billion in the first quarter of this year, and they plan to increase it to $ 25 billion by 2025. — VNS