A delegation of more than 400 Thai garment, textile and footwear businesses will be visiting Vietnam to understand Vietnamese consumption demands and explore market potential. The Thais will also be visiting garment-textile and footwear plants in Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces, said Malinee Harnboonsong, director of the Thai Trade Centre in the city.

She said that Thai trade and investment agencies had funded their participation in fairs and exhibitions, and encouraged exchanges between enterprises in both countries. The businesses have already spoken to hundreds of local firms in HCM City.

Nguyen The Hung, deputy director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry's HCM City branch, said that Thai products were popular in Vietnam and that more Vietnamese goods were present in the Thai market.

The two countries are striving to raise bilateral trade value to $20 billion by 2020. In 2014, the trade turnover between Vietnam and Thailand reached $10.6 billion in 2014, a year-on-year rise of 12.5 percent. In the first half of this year, the figure stood at about $5.2 billion, up 8 percent against the same time last year.