Agencies

BANGKOK,July 23: Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Thursday brushed aside concern that Vietnam is eclipsing Thailand as a regional manufacturing base, saying Vietnam is a friend not a competitor. 

The comments came during a visit to Bangkok by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and at a time when a number of foreign companies are shifting manufacturing operations from Thailand to Vietnam, partly for logistical reasons. 

"Today, we use the word friend and not competitor," Prayuth told a news conference with Dung, adding that Thailand was Vietnam's biggest trade partner in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.