An overview of the seminar (Source: VNA) Prague (VNA) – The economic, trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and the Czech Republic has yet to meet the two economies’ potential and demands, said Vietnamese Ambassador to the Czech Republic Ho Minh Tuan at a seminar in Prague on May 3.
Tuan pointed to several fields that the two sides can develop collaboration, including tourism and skilled labour exchange.
He also called for more efforts to diversify the bilateral trade ties and encourage different economic sectors and localities to get involved in developing the relations.
Vietnam always creates the best conditions for foreign enterprises, including those from the Czech Republic, to engage in the Vietnamese market, the diplomat affirmed.
At the seminar, delegates and Czech enterprises were introduced to incentives in bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation, several prioritised projects of Vietnam, as well as the outcomes and new features of the minutes of the sixth meeting of the Inter-Governmental Committee on Economic Cooperation recently held in Hanoi.
Two-way trade has enjoyed positive growth over the past years, exceeding 1 billion USD last year, up 12 percent year on year. However, the turnover mainly comes from Vietnam’s exports.
Meanwhile, the Czech Republic’s investment in Vietnam and vice versa remains modest. As of April, the Czech Republic had run 36 investment projects in Vietnam with a total capital of nearly 100 million USD, while Vietnam had only four projects totalling 5 million USD in the European nation.
Delegates stressed the need for both sides to address shortcomings in economic, trade and investment ties, including difficulties in accessing each other’s market, lack of information about market, investment policies, and visa granting procedures.
Zuzana Zahradnikova, Vice President of the Czech Chamber of Deputies’ Committee on Foreign Affairs, spoke highly of cooperation potential between the two countries.
She vowed to back and boost bilateral trade cooperation, including addressing shortcomings in granting visas for Vietnamese citizens.
Earlier the same day, at the meeting with Zuzana Zahradnikova, Ambassador Tuan asked the Parliament of the Czech Republic to soon ratify the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement in order to help promote trade ties between Vietnam and the EU and the Czech Republic in particular.
He suggested the European country facilitate collaboration between the two countries’ businesses, especially in tourism and recruitment of Vietnam’s skilled workers.
The host acknowledged the Vietnamese diplomat’s proposals, adding that she will work with her country’s authorised offices to handle the issues.-VNA
VNA
