On 13 June 2023, H.E. Mr. Sarun Charoensuwan, Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Thailand, co-chaired the 9th Thailand – Viet Nam Political Consultation Group (PCG) Meeting with H.E Mr. Do Hung Viet, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam, in Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, to discuss way forward in advancing the "Strengthened Strategic Partnership" between Thailand and Viet Nam. The 9th PCG was convened in the backdrop of the 10th anniversary of Thailand – Viet Nam Strategic Partnership this year.

​Both sides discussed approaches to move forward the partnership and cooperation between Thailand and Viet Nam into the future. They agreed on the need for continued exchanges of visits and closer engagements at all levels, and discussed possible deliverables in preparation for upcoming high-level visits. The Thai side reaffirmed the continuity of its foreign policy, which always values Viet Nam as a close neighbour and strategic partner with shared interests and interdependency.
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Both sides were pleased with the ever-increasing economic linkages between the two countries. Bilateral trade has grown consistently, at 8.73 percent in 2022 to USD 21 billion, which accounts for over one third of Thailand’s trade with the whole Mekong sub-region. In this regard, Viet Nam is ready to host the next meeting of Joint Trade Commission to discuss ways to achieve the bilateral trade target of USD 25 billion by 2025. Moreover, Thailand is currently the 9th largest foreign investor in Viet Nam with accumulated investment of over USD 13 billion.
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The two sides stressed the importance of promoting even closer economic connectivity to enhance both countries’ resilience in the face of fast-changing international political and economic landscape. They agreed on the need to make continued efforts to translate the Three Connects strategy, namely (1) connecting the two countries’ supply chains, (2) connecting the two countries’ grass root economies and (3) connecting the two countries’ sustainable growth strategies, into concrete implementation, as agreed by the two countries’ leaders. This involves further facilitating and reducing obstacles to trade, promoting greater transportation linkages, especially increase of direct flights between the two countries, better utilisation of sister city partnerships, a Meet Thailand event to be hosted by the Royal Thai Embassy in Hanoi in August, promoting more investment in clean energy, etc.

Both sides attached high importance to further promoting bilateral relations at the people-to-people level, and agreed that the 10th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership this year provides an opportunity to organise activities to promote greater public awareness on the shared cultural identity between the Thai and Vietnamese people. They also stressed the importance of further promoting cooperation on education and development, especially the expansion of Thai language programmes in Viet Nam and vice versa, as well as the exchange of knowledge and experience on education in areas of their respective expertise.

The two sides took the opportunity to exchange views on geopolitics and issues of mutual interests both at the regional and international levels, including the situation in Ukraine, cooperation within ASEAN and Mekong sub-regional frameworks, as well as the situations in the South China Sea and Myanmar. They agreed to work more closely, especially within the Mekong sub-region, including the strengthening of ACMECS, to bring greater resilience and stability to withstand the volatility in the regional and global political and economic landscape.
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On this visit to Viet Nam, the Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs also paid courtesy calls on H.E. Mr. Bui Thanh Son, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam, and H.E. Mr. Le Hoai Trung, Head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations, Communist Party of Viet Nam. They discussed the strengthening of bilateral relations both at the government-to-government and people-to-people levels, whereby the Thai side expressed his appreciation and sought the Vietnamese Government’s continued support for Thai investment, including in petrochemical and clean energy industries, which account for over one third of Thai investment in Viet Nam.