A high-ranking delegation of the Czech Government led by Prime Minister Andrej Babis visits the Sapa Commercial Centre in Prague. (Photo: VNA) The event was jointly held by the VietnameseAssociation in the Czech Republic and the Office of the Czech Government. It was also attended by Czech Deputy PM, Minister of Industry and Trade and Minister of Transport Karel Havlíček, and Deputy PM and Minister of Finance Alena Schillerová.
Babis thanked the Vietnamese community for theirefforts in fighting COVID-19 in the Czech Republic, and lauded the traditionalties between the two countries.
The PM said during his recent online talks with PrimeMinister Pham Minh Chinh, the Czech Government agreed to cooperate with andsupport Vietnam in the pandemic combat. Babis also expressed his wish to soonvisit Vietnam to promote the bilateral relations, especially in economy and trade.
Babis told the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’scorrespondents that the Sapa Commercial Centre is the biggest one of Vietnamesein Europe, with 7,000 labourers, and described it as a friendship bridgebetween the two countries.
Vietnamese Ambassador to the Czech Republic Thai Xuan Dungthanked the PM for his good sentiments towards the Vietnamese community as wellas the Vietnam-Czech relationship.
He highlighted the valuable assistance of the CzechGovernment and people to Vietnam during the cause of national construction anddefence, the close and effective coordination between the two countries on theinternational arena, and the Czech Government’s support to the Vietnamesecommunity.
Despite COVID-19, two-way trade has grown sharply overthe past time, reaching 1.5 billion USD last year, up 22 percent against 2019. Inthe first half of this year, the revenue increased 28 percent year-on-year,according to the ambassador.
On behalf of the Vietnamese Government and people,Dung thanked the Czech Republic for presenting Vietnam with 250,000 doses ofCOVID-19 vaccine, and its readiness to transfer 500,000 doses to the SoutheastAsian nation.
Vietnam wants to receive more assistance from theinternational community and the Czech Republic in particular in the pandemicfight, he said.
Vietnam also hopes for the transfer of COVID-19vaccines, drugs and medical supplies as soon as and as many as possible, Dungsaid, adding that the country wishes to access vaccine sources fromEuropean Union (EU) member nations and cooperate with the EU in the transfer of COVID-19 vaccineand treatment drug production technologies.
President of the Vietnamese Association in the CzechRepublic Nguyen Duy Nhien affirmed that the Vietnamese community will integratemore intensively and extensively into the host society in the time ahead./.
VNA
