Mr. Parnpree Badiddha - Nukara chose Vietnam as the first ASEAN country to officially visit since taking office as Foreign Minister in early September. Mr. Gabrielius Landsbergis is the first Lithuanian Foreign Minister to visit Vietnam since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992.
In addition to the “first” factor showing that these countries value cooperative relations with Vietnam, there is also an interesting coincidence in timing when both of them visited Vietnam from October 25-26 and delivered important speeches at the OECD-Southeast Asia Ministerial Forum 2023 with the theme “Sustainable and quality investment: New impetus for the OECD-Southeast Asia partnership”.
This also means that the host country's Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son has two busy days receiving two guests from two different continents at the same time.
Close friend, top important partner
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| Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara. (Source: VNA) |
Mr. Parnpree Badiddha-Nukara's visit to Vietnam took place shortly after he was approved by the King of Thailand to the position of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand Phan Chi Thanh, in an interview with TG&VN, emphasized the "extremely important and special significance" as this is the first visit by a senior representative of the new Thai Government to Vietnam on the occasion of the two countries celebrating 10 years of strategic partnership (2013-2023).
The visit continues to affirm the commitment and determination of both sides in implementing the Action Program to implement the Vietnam-Thailand Enhanced Strategic Partnership for the 2022-2027 period and to coordinate more closely between the two countries in regional and international forums.
During the meetings and talks with the guest from the land of smiles, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Head of the Central External Relations Commission Le Hoai Trung and Minister Bui Thanh Son all welcomed Mr. Parnpree for choosing Vietnam as the first country to visit in his new position and assessed that this visit will contribute to deepening the Vietnam-Thailand strategic partnership.
Discussing bilateral cooperation, the two sides expressed their delight at witnessing the increasingly extensive and substantive development of cooperation in various fields between the two countries on the basis of mutual respect, trust and mutual benefit; on that basis, they agreed to move forward to bring bilateral relations to new heights.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh suggested that the two countries continue to promote and bring the relationship to a new height; increase the exchange of delegations at all levels through the Party, State, Government and National Assembly channels; and effectively implement bilateral cooperation mechanisms, especially the mechanism of joint Cabinet meetings chaired by the two Prime Ministers.
Appreciating that Thailand continues to be Vietnam's largest trade partner in ASEAN and the ninth largest foreign investor in Vietnam, the Prime Minister suggested that the two sides coordinate and strive to soon bring bilateral trade turnover to the target of 25 billion USD in a more balanced direction.
Referring to Thailand's facilitation of the establishment of the Vietnam Street and the Vietnam Research Center in Udon Thani province, Minister Bui Thanh Son suggested that the two sides continue to cooperate to preserve and promote the value of President Ho Chi Minh's relic sites and Vietnamese pagodas in Thailand; support Thai and Vietnamese language teaching programs in each country; encourage the building of cooperative relations and twinning between localities of the two countries, creating a solid foundation to promote people-to-people exchanges and business connections.
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| Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son welcomed and held talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara. (Photo: Tuan Anh) |
Expressing his delight at his first official visit to Vietnam, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Parnpree Badiddha-Nukara affirmed that Vietnam is a close friend and one of Thailand's leading important partners in the region. Appreciating Vietnam's socio-economic development achievements, the head of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the two economies still have much potential and room to enhance cooperation.
Expressing his desire to effectively implement the “Three Connections” strategy between the two countries, Mr. Parnpree Badiddha - Nukara agreed to increase the exchange of high-level delegations and deploy important bilateral cooperation mechanisms, promote cooperation in the fields of politics, economics, tourism, air and road connectivity, cultural and people-to-people exchanges, etc.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Parnpree Badiddha-Nukara said that Thai businesses believe in the potential and investment environment and wish to expand their investment in Vietnam; he asked the Vietnamese Government to continue supporting Thai investors in implementing projects in some localities of Vietnam, including energy projects. The Thai Government will facilitate foreign businesses, including Vietnamese businesses, to expand their investment in Thailand.
Regarding regional and international cooperation, the two sides affirmed to closely coordinate with each other at multilateral and regional mechanisms; coordinate with other ASEAN countries to strengthen solidarity, unity and the central role of ASEAN; enhance cooperation in the development of the Mekong sub-region, manage and sustainably use the Mekong River's water resources; affirm the importance of maintaining peace, stability, safety, maritime and aviation security in the East Sea on the basis of international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS.
Important milestones create new momentum
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| Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. (Source: VNA) |
Clearly, the presence of Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis in Hanoi is an important milestone in Vietnam-Lithuania relations, as affirmed by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in the meeting on the afternoon of October 25. At the meeting on the same day, Minister Bui Thanh Son assessed that the visit would certainly create a new impetus to further strengthen the relationship between Vietnam and its traditional friends and partners in Central and Eastern Europe.
Coming from a country with a long history in Europe (Lithuania officially appeared in history in 1009), the Minister expressed his impression and appreciation of Vietnam's socio-economic development achievements, its increasingly important role and position in the region and the world. Lithuania always values and wishes to strengthen relations with Vietnam, a priority partner in Southeast Asia.
For many Vietnamese, Lithuania is not a familiar name as a popular tourist or study abroad destination. The small country (with an area of only 65,301 km2 and a population of about 3.3 million people) but it makes anyone "look up" with many successes in the process of integration, economic transformation, public services, technology application and research on renewable energy applications.
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| Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son held talks with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis on October 25 in Hanoi. (Photo: Tuan Anh) |
As “revealed” by the Vietnamese Ambassador to Poland and Lithuania Nguyen Hung, the land known as the “startup nation” in Europe ranks seventh in e-government standards in the “old continent” and technology companies earn about 99% of their revenue from abroad, making the most important contribution to GDP.
More surprisingly, Lithuania is building a leading European technology campus in the capital Vilnius, aiming to become the new technology capital of the Baltic region, worth 100 million Euros, spanning 55,000 m2 and attracting 5,000 employees. Currently, Lithuania has more than 600 study programs taught in English according to European standards, long-standing higher education institutions, constantly innovative programs at affordable prices...
Therefore, it is understandable why cooperation in high technology, information technology, digital transformation, education and training, along with agriculture, culture and tourism, etc. were emphasized in the meetings. The head of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs assessed the S-shaped country as one of the potential markets in Southeast Asia; proposed to create more favorable conditions for Lithuanian agricultural products such as beef, poultry, eggs, fertilizers, etc. to enter the Vietnamese market.
To create a catalyst for deeper cooperation activities, the two Ministers agreed to promote the early exchange of delegations at all levels, especially high-level ones, continue to maintain the political consultation mechanism between the two Foreign Ministries, and coordinate to effectively implement the Cooperation Agreement between the two Ministries that was just signed during this visit.
On the multilateral front, the two sides agreed to closely coordinate and support each other at multilateral forums, including the United Nations, ASEM and ASEAN-EU...
With a GDP of 75.88 billion USD (2022), Lithuania - a member of the Eurozone, is the largest economy among the Baltic countries. In particular, this beautiful small country has actively supported Vietnam in the negotiation and signing of the Vietnam-EU Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and is one of the first EU member states to ratify the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).
At the meetings, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Minister Bui Thanh Son both expressed Lithuania's support and suggested urging the remaining EU member states to soon ratify the EVIPA, as well as contributing their voices to acknowledge Vietnam's efforts in fully and seriously implementing the European Commission's (EC) recommendations on sustainable fisheries development and urging the EC to soon remove the "yellow card" (IUU) for Vietnamese seafood products.
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Mr. Parnpree Badiddha-Nukara's "greeting" visit to neighboring ASEAN countries took place just under two months after his appointment to his new position (September 2023). Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis's visit to Vietnam took place shortly after Lithuania "launched" its Indo-Pacific Strategy (July 2023).
In that context, the two official visits taking place at the same time show the importance and desire to further promote cooperative relations with Vietnam of the neighboring country in Southeast Asia as well as of the Baltic country.
Through welcoming these two distinguished guests, Vietnam continues to consolidate and strengthen multifaceted cooperation with other countries, opening up new impulses and opportunities to mobilize support and resources for the country's socio-economic development.
The second OECD-Southeast Asia Ministerial Forum and activities under the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Southeast Asia Programme (SEARP) in 2023 will take place from October 26-27 in Hanoi in both in-person and online formats. Vietnam will host these activities as co-chair of SEARP for the 2022-2025 term. Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son will co-chair the OECD-Southeast Asia Ministerial Forum. |
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