Thai Consul General Bids Courtesy Calls to City Leaders

Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee Mr. Pham Van Hieu and Deputy Chairman of the People's Committee Mr. Truong Quang Hoai Nam on 19^th July 2019 received new Thai Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Mr. Apirat Sugondhabhirom who came to bid courtesy calls to the city leaders.

Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, Mr. Pham Van Hieu (R) at the reception for new Thai Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Apirat Sugondhabhirom on 19 July 2019

Hosting the new Consul General, Mr. Pham Van Hieu and Truong Quang Hoai Nam provided an overview of Can Tho City, its roles in the Mekong Delta and status of the city's cooperation with Thai partners.

Both leaders shared their outlooks on future cooperation needs with Thailand in agriculture, trade, culture, tourism and airway transportation. They praised Thailand's good experience in agriculture production, technologies and tourism which Can Tho City can learn from and exchange with.

The two leaders acknowledged that improvement of information exchange and matching activities for enterprises of both sides would contribute to boosting the bilateral trade of the two countries. They invited the Consul General and Thai companies to attend the annual International Agriculture Fair in Can Tho City in November for such purposes.

In addition, they showed their readiness to cooperate with Thai partners to organize cultural events to enhance mutual understanding of the two peoples.

Last but not least, the new flight route from Can Tho City to Bangkok would help to bring Vietnamese as well as Can Tho citizens closer to Thailand and vice versa and to increase the number of tourists visiting each other.

Deputy Chairman of the People's Committee, Mr. Truong Quang Hoai Nam (M) and leaders of line agencies took a picture with the Thai Consul General and his staff after the courtesy call

In response, Mr. Apirat Sugondhabhirom shared the Thai government, via TICA (Thai International Cooperation Agency) offers scholarships to civil servants to take short-term training courses in Thailand in agriculture and tourism fields. He expected applicants from Can Tho City, especially its leaders  could consider applying for the courses to improve their skills and have chances to exchange their expertise with counterparts from various countries.

He accepted the invitation and said to attend the upcoming event organized in Can Tho with a group of Thai companies for further discussions on cooperation opportunities between Can Tho City and Thailand.

The Consul General congratulated the city for its new flight route to Bangkok. He hoped that there would be a direct flight from Can Tho City to Chachoengsao province (a sisterhood province signed an MOU with Can Tho City in 2014) of Thailand in the future so that citizens of both sides can get to know each other better.