Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) meets Czech PM Petr Fiala on the sidelines of the ASEAN–EU Summit in December 2022 (Photo: VNA) The visit, made at the invitation of Prime Minister PhamMinh Chinh, takes place in the context that the traditional friendship and multifacetedcooperation between Vietnam and the Czech Republic are developing well.
Traditional partnership
Vietnam and the Czech Republic set up their diplomatic tieson February 2, 1950. Since then, the Czech Republic has always implemented a policy of developing cooperative relations with Vietnam in all fields.
The two sides maintain regular contacts at all levels.Recently, PM Chinh met PM Petr Fiala on the sidelines of the ASEAN–EU Summit inDecember 2022; and previously, in August 2021, they held phone talks.
The two countries have signed 14 cooperation agreements inall fields, including those on trade, bilateral paymentand debt repayment, investment encouragement and protection,avoidance of double taxation, and economic cooperation. Notably, thetwo sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding on defence-security cooperationin 2012.
In addition, the two countries have closely coordinated atinternational and regional multilateral forums. The Czech Republic supportedVietnam's candidacy for the position as a non-permanent member of the UnitedNations Security Council for the 2020-2021 term, and was one of the first EUmember states to ratify the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), and the EU-VietnamInvestment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).
Extensive economic-trade cooperation
The development and international integration of the twoeconomies have created favourable conditions for bilateral cooperation ineconomics, trade and investment.
Two-way trade has grown in recent years but is still modestcompared to the two countries’ potential. The turnover reached 848 million USD in2022, up 15% year-on-year.
Bac Kan province's vermicelli exported to the Czech Republic (Photo: VNA) In terms of development cooperation, the Czech Republic wasthe first Eastern European country to provide ODA to Vietnam, with about 20million USD in total.
Since 2013, it has not placed Vietnam in the list ofODA development aid recipients due to the country’s economicdevelopment progress.
Promoting cooperation in other aspects
Education and training is another potential field forcooperation between the two countries. The two sides have made great efforts toexpand collaboration possibilities. Several universities of Vietnam have cooperatedin training with those from the Czech Republic, while a new cooperation agreement in education is now in the negotiation process.
In addition, cooperation in labour is a noteworthy field in the two countries’ relations. In the context of labour shortage, the CzechRepublic has demand for Vietnamese workers with professional trainingand Czech language, especially in the medical field. It has also established severalvocational training institutions for Vietnamese workers to improve theirskills in mechanical engineering and automobile industry to supplement askilled workforce for the country.
Currently, there are nearly 100,000 Vietnamese people livingin the Czech Republic. On July 3, 2013, the Czech Government decided to add Vietnamese-Czechpeople to its Council of Ethnic Minorities, thereby recognising Vietnamese-Czechpeople as an ethnic minority group in the country.
The two sides have also agreed to further strengthen cooperationin agriculture, science-technology, the environment, climate change response,energy, and human resources development in the digital era, culture, tourism,and justice.
With long-standing and extensive cooperation in allfields, the upcoming visit to Vietnam by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala showsthe importance his country attaches to strengthen the bilateral relations.During the visit, the two sides are expected to identify specific cooperationdirections in economics, trade and investment, and discuss measures towards theeffective implementation of the EVFTA./.
VNA
