Activities of Minister Le Manh Hung during the official visit to Thailand by General Secretary and State President To Lam (27 - 28 May 2026)

Within the framework of the visit, Minister Le Manh Hung accompanied General Secretary and State President To Lam and his spouse in attending meetings with the Vietnamese community in Udon Thani province; the official welcome ceremony hosted by the Thai Prime Minister; the high-level talks between General Secretary and State President To Lam and the Prime Minister of Thailand; and the Vietnam - Thailand Business Forum, which gathered a large number of enterprises from both countries.

These activities reflected the determination of the senior leadership of both countries to further advance the enhanced strategic partnership between Vietnam and Thailand towards more substantive and effective development, while strengthening cooperation in trade, investment, supply chain connectivity, green transition, digital transformation, and energy cooperation amid growing regional and global economic uncertainties. The visit also contributed to reinforcing political trust, expanding connections between the business communities of both countries, and promoting cooperation between localities, enterprises, and the peoples of Vietnam and Thailand.

Minister Le Manh Hung also accompanied General Secretary and State President To Lam in meetings with leaders of several major Thai conglomerates, including SCG, Gulf, Siam Piwat, as well as the Chairman of the Vietnam - Thailand Friendship Association.

During these engagements, the Vietnamese side highly valued the effective investment and business operations of Thai enterprises in Vietnam, and encouraged Thai companies to further expand investment in areas such as processing industries, energy, commercial infrastructure, logistics, green transition, and sustainable development. Thai businesses, for their part, expressed strong interest in the Vietnamese market, highly appreciated Vietnam’s investment and business environment, and voiced their intention to further expand long-term cooperation in the country.

On the afternoon of 28 May 2026, the Minister met and worked with leaders of Thailand’s national energy conglomerate PTT Public Company Limited (PTT) and its exploration and production subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP) to discuss energy cooperation and promote the implementation of oil and gas projects between the two countries.

PTT plays a key role in ensuring Thailand’s and the region’s energy security. Through PTTEP, the group is cooperating with PetroVietnam (PVN/PVEP) in several oil and gas projects in Vietnam, including the Block B gas-to-power chain project, Block 09-2, Block 16-1, and a number of projects in third countries.

At the meeting, Minister Le Manh Hung highly appreciated the long-standing cooperation between PTT/PTTEP and PVN, PVEP, and Vietnamese partners. He acknowledged the coordination efforts of PTT/PTTEP with PVN and relevant stakeholders in addressing challenges and advancing the implementation of the Block B gas-to-power chain project.

The Minister urged PTT/PTTEP to continue close coordination with relevant parties to ensure the synchronized progress of the entire project chain, from upstream gas field development and pipeline transport to downstream power plants in O Mon, with the goal of achieving first gas in 2027 and continuing the development of Phase 1B of the field.

For other existing oil and gas projects, the Minister requested PTTEP to continue working with PVEP and partners to implement drilling, exploration, and appraisal activities at White Tiger field (Block 16-1) and Rong Ca Ngu Vang field (Block 09-2), aiming to bring new wells into production in 2026, thereby contributing to increasing Vietnam’s oil and gas output amid the natural decline of production from existing fields.

The Minister also welcomed PTT/PTTEP’s continued research into expanding investment and participation in new petroleum contracts for open blocks on Vietnam’s continental shelf. He further encouraged PTT to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in LNG, petroleum supply, gas infrastructure, gas-fired power, and new energy, in line with Vietnam’s energy transition strategy.

PTT/PTTEP affirmed their support for strengthening energy cooperation between Vietnam and Thailand and highly valued their effective collaboration with PVN and Vietnamese partners in implementing oil and gas projects over recent years. PTTEP noted that it is currently participating in three oil and gas blocks in Vietnam, with the Block B gas-to-power project being a major strategic project of large scale, progressing on schedule thanks to close coordination among stakeholders across the upstream, midstream, and downstream segments.

PTTEP also shared operational experience from gas projects in the Gulf of Thailand and expressed readiness to provide technical, operational, and maintenance expertise to support the effective implementation of the Block B project, ensuring the target of first gas in 2027.

In the LNG and energy trading sector, PTT stated that it is developing an international LNG business network with multiple regional offices worldwide. Thailand currently produces gas from the Gulf of Thailand while still importing LNG to meet domestic demand. In the context of energy transition and supply diversification, PTT expressed interest in expanding cooperation with Vietnam in importing LNG, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), crude oil, petroleum products, and petrochemicals, and also stands ready to coordinate LNG supply sharing in emergency situations to contribute to regional energy security.

PTT also expressed its desire to further expand business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) cooperation, particularly in LNG and gas-to-power projects, as Thailand continues to develop additional LNG terminals. The group also expressed interest in strengthening cooperation with Vietnamese partners, including Vietnam Electricity (EVN), in gas-to-power projects and other emerging energy sectors in the coming period.

Concluding the meeting, the Minister affirmed that Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade stands ready to accompany and coordinate within its state management functions to facilitate effective and mutually beneficial cooperation between PTT/PTTEP and Vietnamese energy enterprises, contributing to the increasingly substantive and sustainable development of Vietnam–Thailand energy cooperation.

According to Vietnam Customs, Thailand is currently Vietnam’s largest trading partner within ASEAN, while Vietnam is Thailand’s second-largest trading partner in ASEAN. In 2025, bilateral trade reached 22.1 billion US dollars, up 9 percent compared with 2024, of which Vietnam’s exports to Thailand amounted to 8.8 billion US dollars, up 12.7 percent, while imports from Thailand reached 13.3 billion US dollars, up 6.7 percent.

In the first four months of 2026, bilateral trade maintained strong growth momentum, reaching 8.6 billion US dollars, up 25 percent year on year. The two countries are working towards the target of 25 billion US dollars in bilateral trade, in line with the orientation of their senior leadership.