The 1st Viet Nam – Thailand Forum was held in Quy Nhon City

View of the Forum

Speaking at the Opening Session, Mr. Cao Quoc Hung, Deputy Minister of Viet Nam Trade and Industry Ministry, confirmed: “The forum is an activity to specify the contents of the statement on energy cooperation between Viet Nam and Thailand at the 30^th ASEAN Energy Ministers Meeting in Cambodia in February 2012; at the same time, this is an opportunity for policy makers as well as enterprises of the two countries to discuss the orientation and cooperative plans between the two sides in the future, developing the energy cooperation more fruitfully.”

Due to the impact of the greenhouse effect, the climate change, and the energy crisis, the demand for all energy sources is constantly increasing when fossil energy resources are being depleted; oil and gas become extremely important. The financial issue, the technology and policy mechanism have become such obstacles for exploiting these kinds of energy. For the ASEAN region, during the agendas of the regional cooperation forums, energy is always an extremely important issue. Vietnam and Thailand have established dialogue mechanisms and cooperative networks for the energy sectors and these activities have been promoted their certain effects and roles. During the framework of cooperation, we need to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperative programs so as to contribute to actualizing ASEAN community in the end of 2015 which ASEAN leaders agreed in Kuala Lumpur. For Viet Nam, electricity industry must ensure to annually increase from 9% till 10%. Up to 2020, the total capacity of electric plants is approximately 75,000 MW; up to 2030, this figure must reach about 146,800 MW. 

Mr. Ho Quoc Dung, Chairman of Binh Dinh People’s Committee giving a speech

Also at the Opening Session, Mr. Ho Quoc Dung, Chairman of Binh Dinh People’s Committee, was delighted and honored when Binh Dinh was chosen to organize the 1^st Viet Nam – Thailand Forum. Chairman Ho Quoc Dung gave a brief on the socio-economic conditions of Binh Dinh Province in the past years. He confirmed, “Binh Dinh has great potential for energy development, especially renewable energy such as hydro-electric power, wind power, solar energy, geothermal energy, and so on. Presently, Binh Dinh has 6 hydro-electric projects which were put into operation and generated the electricity with a total capacity of 139.4 megawatts (MW) and some other projects which are under construction with a total capacity of 31.1 MW. Besides, the wind power projects have been registered in Nhon Hoi Economic Zone with a total capacity of 312.1 MW.”

Mr. Athipat Bamroong – Inspector General – Thailand Ministry of Energy, Head of the delegation, believed that this forum would be a great opportunity to strengthen partnerships for the energy development of the both countries in the coming time.

During this forum, the delegates discussed on overview of energy situation of the two countries; Vietnam and Thailand’s oil & gas upstream policies & regulations and proposed cooperation; Thailand’s upstream oil and gas business cooperation by PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP); downstream oil & gas business cooperation opportunities of the two countries; Vietnam and Thailand’s power development plan and current situation; renewable energy cooperation; energy efficiency cooperation; future direction of energy cooperation, etc.