Vietnamese Ambassador Ho Minh Tuan (L) speaks at the grand ceremony to mark 74th anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day. (Photo: VNA)
Prague (VNA) – Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Martin Tlapa spoke highly of Vietnam’s increasing role in the international arena while attending a grand ceremony held by the Vietnamese Embassy in the Czech Republic to mark 74th anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day on September 10.
He expressed his impression on the dynamic economic development of the Southeast Asian country, and rejoiced at the increasing bilateral economic and trade cooperation in the past time.
Last year, two-way trade reached over 1.17 billion USD, with Czech exports worth 140 million USD. Thus, the Czech Republic wants to seek cooperation opportunities to improve trade balance with Vietnam, he added.
He spoke highly of the contributions by the Vietnamese community and the Vietnamese-Czech to the host nation, adding they serve as a bridge to boost the fruitful relations between the two countries.
Based on similarities and mutual understanding, the Czech Republic wishes to promote win-win collaboration with Vietnam across the fields of transport, digital market, finance, tourism and people-to-people exchange. Particularly, the Czech Republic wants to coordinate with Vietnam to effectively carry out their cooperation contents reached during Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s official visit to the former in April, he added.
Vietnamese Ambassador Ho Minh Tuan took the occasion to highlight Vietnam’s achievements in the national construction and development in the past time, and thank international friends and community, including the Czech Republic, for supporting Vietnam, especially when the country undertakes the role as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security for the 2020-2021 tenure.
Ambassador Tuan stressed the Vietnam-Czech relations have been elevated to a new high after PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to the central European country.
Currently, both nations are preparing for the celebration to mark the 70th anniversary of their bilateral diplomatic ties in 2020, with focus on enhancing high-level visits so as to develop the cooperative relations into a more practical and effective manner.
He particularly underlined that the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) signed earlier this year will open more opportunities to enhance collaboration in trade and economy.
Regarding the community of 80,000 Vietnamese people in the Czech Republic, Ambassador Tuan affirmed they are playing an important role in promoting the traditional friendship between the two nations, hoping that the Czech Government and people will create favourable conditions for them so that they can better integrate in the host country./.
VNA