BANGKOK, Nov 12 – Thailand and Vietnam have agreed that their third joint cabinet retreat will take place in Thailand.
The decision was reached by Thai Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Affairs Minister Tanasak Patmapragorn and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Affairs Minister Pham Binh Minh during their meeting in Nay Pyi Thaw, the Myanmar capital.
Gen Tanasak is accompanying Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on his official visit to Myanmar for the 25th ASErAN Summit.
The sidelines meeting was aimed at strengthening the Thailand-Vietnam strategic partnership and cooperation.
The two countries will later discuss when and where exactly the meeting will be held.
Thailand, under the government of then prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, initiated the first Thailand-Vietnam joint cabinet retreat in the Vietnamese city of Danang in 2004.
Their second retreat was held in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, in 2012, when Mr Thaksin’s younger sister Yingluck Shinawatra was prime minister of Thailand.
While in Myanmar, Gen Tanasak also held talks with His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Brunei, to discuss ways to promote bilateral relations between the two countries.
During the meeting, Gen Tanasak thanked his counterpart for Brunei’s understanding and support for Thailand’s effort to address insurgency in its southern border provinces.
HRH Prince Bolkiah, meanwhile, pledged to maintain oil and gas cooperation with Thailand and expressed interest in strengthening ties with the Kingdom in others areas, such as agriculture, food and fisheries.
