Attending the opening ceremony were Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai, Thai Minister of Commerce Sontirat Sontijirawong, and Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand Nguyen Hai Bang.

This is the third year in a row the Vietnamese goods week has been organised in the city. Besides introducing Vietnamese goods to Thai customers, tourism is also promoted as part of this year’s progamme.

The event is a project in the framework of ‘Promote Vietnamese enterprises to directly participate in foreign distribution networks up to 2020’ which was endorsed by the Prime Minister in his Decision No 1513/QD-TTg dated September 3, 2015.

The five-day event draws the participation of about 60 Vietnamese firms, exhibiting items with high export potential such as processed fruits, coffee, instant noodles, clothes and silk, as well as products representing the identity of the regions of Viet Nam such as vermicelli, mushrooms and handicrafts. 

Among those, 20 businesses will attend the business matching session with buying teams from Central Group Thailand.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Minister Hai said in recent years, the Vietnamese Government has created favourable conditions for local businesses to further expand their networks overseas, of which Thailand is a promising market. 

The ‘Viet Nam Goods and Tourism Week in Thailand’ is a critical activity aimed at boosting trade connection and helping Vietnamese goods to access Central Group’s distribution network, he said.

Thai Minister of Commerce Sontirat Sontijirawong said Thailand and Viet Nam have maintained continuous relations for over 42 years. These relations have not been just diplomatic, but also strongly involved with economy, trade, investment, culture, education and tourism.

Regarding trade cooperation in particular, the two countries have long exchanged goods and services, with trade volume and value increasing every year. The Thai private sector has been investing in Viet Nam as well as importing Vietnamese products, according to Sontijiwarong.

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 USD from 11.5 billion USD in 2015, recording an average annual growth rate of 15.5 percent.

The figure in the first seven months of this year reached around 9.5 billion USD, a rise of 14.2 percent year-on-year. The two countries are striving to bring two-way trade to 20 billion USD by 2020 and ensure more balanced trade in the future.