Vietnam's economy is a fast-developing one thanks to the government's economic development plan, under which the country hopes to rely more on industrial goods by 2020.

The Vietnam government recently said that it wanted to become Thailand's "friendly competitor".

"We want to see Thailand and Vietnam work in good partnership instead of being export rivals," Apiradi said.

Apiradi, who is also in-charge of Asean's regional hub office, said many countries such as Japan, Korea and China were investing in Asean as they wanted to make use of resources available in the region.

To create competitiveness among the 10 member countries of Asean, the grouping should focus more on trade and investment cooperation to protect intra-regional natural resources, she said.

"Asean investors may cooperate among themselves and invest in each other instead of waiting for outside investors," she said, adding that these outsiders could withdraw their investment anytime without gauging the loss of natural resources.

 For instance, Thailand and Vietnam are working on rice trading, as the two countries are the world's two largest rice exporters.

Asean will hold a seminar entitled: "How to do business in Asean," today at Queen Sirikit Convention Centre. It aims to educate and urge its member countries and enterprises to cooperate and invest in the region.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai, The Nation