Vietnam and Thailand have agreed to establish a strategic partnership with five principal pillars, including political relations, defense and security cooperation, economic cooperation, socio-cultural cooperation, and regional and international cooperation. The agreement was reached by visiting General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nguyen Phu Trong and Thailand’s Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, during their talks in Bangkok on Tuesday. The two leaders praised the fine development of the two countries’ relations, especially in politics, economics and trade, in recent years. They agreed to strive to increase two-way trade from over US$8.6 billion to $15 billion by 2020, with annual growth of 20 percent. Both leaders highlighted the important role of the business community in boosting the efficiency of economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries. According to statistics, Thai investors are developing about 300 projects with a total registered capital of $6.12 billion in Vietnam. General Secretary Trong said Vietnam pledges to create favorable conditions for Thai investors and encourages them to engage in the fields of oil and gas exploration and exploitation, petro-chemistry, and supporting industries. Trong also said he highly values Thailand’s role in the region and the world and affirmed that Vietnam wishes to promote and expand friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Thailand. In reply, Thai PM Yingluck appreciated General Secretary Trong’s visit, which took place at a time when the two countries’ relationship is being lifted to a strategic partnership. She agreed with Trong that the two sides will assign their relevant departments to build an action plan and a concrete roadmap for the signing of the bilateral strategic partnership by the Prime Ministers of the two countries at a joint cabinet meeting scheduled in October in Thailand. The two leaders agreed that all countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should continue intensifying solidarity and cooperation to maintain the central role of the grouping in regional security structure and successfully build an ASEAN Community by 2015. After expressing concerns over recent developments in the East Sea, both leaders emphasized that concerned parties should settle disputes on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and ASEAN’s Six-Point Statement. They also agreed to soon build a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), which they said will help ensure peace, security and maritime safety in the East Sea.