Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong will pay a visit to Thailand on Tuesday, with a view to boosting the relationship between Vietnam and Thailand to a new height. Trong’s visit, which is made at the invitation of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, was announced to the press yesterday by Hoang Binh Quan, head of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations. The trip, which will last until June 27, will be aimed at boosting the friendship as well as mutual trust and understanding between the two nations, which have nurtured their traditional friendship and diplomatic ties for 37 years, Quan told reporters.

The two countries have regularly exchanged high-ranking delegations in recent years and resumed the second Thailand-Vietnam Joint Cabinet Retreat in October 2012.

The visit is scheduled for a time when the two countries’ economic and trade links have been expanded while bilateral cooperation in other areas such as security, national defense, culture, tourism, education and training has been strengthened, Quan said. The visit will be an opportunity for Vietnam and Thailand to review achievements in their relationship in the past and discuss major orientations and measures to further promote the bilateral ties in the coming time. This will also help the Communist Party of Vietnam to consolidate its relations with political parties in Thailand and create a political foundation for the bilateral ties, he added. During his visit, Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong will have talks with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and meet with the Thai King, the Speaker of the House of Representative and the President of the Senate of Thailand.

It is expected that the two sides will release a joint statement on the official establishment of the strategic partnership, opening up a new stage in the bilateral ties between Vietnam and Thailand, Quan said.