(VOVworld) - Vietnam and Thailand have agreed to seek 20 billion USD in two-way trade turnover by 2020, compared to 12 billion last year.

Workers at Government House prepare the venue for a joint cabinet meeting between Thailand and Vietnam led by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his Vietnamese counterpart Vu Huy Hoang. (Photo: Thanarak Khunton)

Commerce Minister Chatchai Sarikalya told reporters on Wednesday that the target was set in a three-day meeting of a Joint Trade Committee which he co-chaired with Vietnamese Industry and Trade Minister Vu Huy Hoang, on the eve of a visit to Thailand by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

To reach the new goal, Chatchai said, both countries endorsed an action plan on trade and investment cooperation from now until 2020.

They also agreed to promote cooperation to such areas of trade promotion, agriculture, transport connectivity, banking, intellectual property, investment, energy, and labor.

At the meeting, Vietnamese and Thai representatives reiterated their wish to strengthen cooperation in bilateral forums including ASEAN, APEC, WTO, and especially the ASEAN Economic Community to be formed later this year.