More than 130 leading firms from Thailand are advertising their products and services to local customers at the Top Thai Brands 2018, which began in the capital on Thursday.

On display at 160 booths are food and beverages, household appliances, electronics, automotive and motorbike components and beauty products, among other items.

In her speech at the event’s opening ceremony, Charge d’Affaires of the Thai Embassy in Viet Nam Wanthanee Viputwongsakul spoke highly of bilateral relations in many fields between the two countries.

Viputwongsakul described the Top Thai Brands 2018 as a good opportunity for Vietnamese customers to get access to many of Thailand’s quality goods.

This year, Thailand will carry out many cooperation activities with Viet Nam to establish a strategic partnership and deepen bilateral co-operation.

A trade fair displaying Vietnamese goods will also take place in Thailand from August 22-26, with the aim of achieving the US$20 billion bilateral trade goal in 2020, she said.

A business matching programme was also held on the first day of the event with the participation of 200 Vietnamese enterprises.

Co-organised by the Thai Ministry of Commerce’s Department of International Trade Promotion, the Office of Commercial Affairs of the Thai Embassy in Viet Nam and the Vietnam National Trade Fair & Advertising Company (Vinexad), the Top Thai Brands 2018 runs until August 1 at the Ha Noi International Exhibition Centre.

Thailand is currently Viet Nam’s largest trade partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), according to the Department of Asia-Africa Markets under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Last year, two-way trade rose to $15.3 billion from $11.5 billion in 2015, recording an average growth rate of 15.5 per cent per year.

As of the beginning of July 2018, bilateral trade reached around $8 billion, a rise of 14.7 per cent year-on-year. Viet Nam’s export revenue to Thailand hit $2.7 billion in the period, while its imports stood at $5.3 billion.

Thailand’s statistics showed that Viet Nam is the country’s second-largest trading partner in ASEAN, after Malaysia.

In term of investment, Thailand is now one of Viet Nam’s 10 largest source of foreign direct investment with 500 projects, worth more than $10.2 billion, statistics from the Foreign Investment Agency revealed. — VNS