A momentous year in Vietnam – Czech Republic relations

VOV.VN - 2023 marked a stage of rapid development in Vietnam – Czech Republic relations in various areas, from politics to economy and culture, following a pandemic inflicted hiatus.

Vietnamese Charge d'Affaires in the Czech Republic Nguyen Dieu Linh shed light on the positive signals in bilateral relations in 2023 in an interview granted to VOV. Following is the excerpt from the interview.

VOV: What are the major diplomatic highlights in Vietnam – Czech Republic relations over the past year?

Charge d'Affaires Linh: Well, I think the diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Czech Republic developed positively over the last year, through the frequent exchange of delegations at all levels. Last year saw the two sides exchange nearly 20 delegations, including Vietnam visits by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala in April, Vice Chairman of the Czech Lower House Jan Bartosek in May, Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Sikela in February, and Minister of Environment Petr Hladik in September. Meanwhile, the Czech Republic also welcomed visits by Head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Popularisation and Education Nguyen Trong Nghia in April 2023, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son in June 2023.

During the Czech Prime Minister’s visit to Vietnam, the two sides signed a number of cooperation documents, including an agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, a letter of intent on cooperation in the field of education, and a memorandum of understanding on cooperation on information sharing and investment assistance.

Such frequent exchanges of visits helped facilitate cooperation between the two countries, especially in trade, economy and investment. Despite the negative impact of the global headwinds, the two countries continued to bring into full play opportunities from the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement (EVFTA) to boost bilateral trade ties, Statistics show two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and the Czech Republic was estimated to hit US$2.7 billion in 2023, representing an increase of more than 10% year on year.

Vietnam continued to hold the leading position among 10 ASEAN member countries in terms of bilateral trade turnover with the Czech Republic. In particular, bilateral cooperation in the fields of energy and defense yielded positive results, with the trade turnover of defense products entering the top 5 commodity groups with high growth turnover for the first time. In early 2023, many Czech energy companies found business partners in Vietnam. Czech automobile manufacturer Skoda Auto continued to build its production line in Vietnam.

Through those visit exchanges, the Czech side always expressed interest and desire to promote multi-faceted cooperation with Vietnam. They affirmed that Vietnam is one of the Czech Republic’s leading partners outside the EU in terms of trade and investment development. The two sides vowed to effectively implement specific measures to further promote the development of their relations in the coming time.

VOV: 2023 also marked 10 years of the Czech Republic’s recognition of the Vietnamese community there as an ethnic minority group. How do you evaluate this milestone, as well as the role of the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic?

Charge d'Affaires Linh: As far as we know currently there are about 96,000 Vietnamese nationals and Czech people of Vietnamese origin living in the Czech Republic. They constitute the third largest foreign community in the Czech Republic, after Slovakia and Ukraine. They are a united, industrious, compassionate, hard-working, dynamic, creative, and law-abiding community that well integrate into their host country, making many practical contributions to the local economy. Some leading Vietnamese owned companies in the Czech Republic are supermarket chain group Tamda, and sportwear and sport equipment company Sportisimo, along with thousands of convenience stores owned by Vietnamese people operating across the European country.

Living far away, Vietnamese expatriates strive to preserve their fatherland’s traditional culture, through holding annual festivals like the Mid-Autumn festival and the lunar New Year festival. They also land a helping hand to their compatriots at home, by raising funds for the poor, islanders and victims of COVID-19 or natural disasters.

I think the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic affirm their increasing position and role in the country, and at the same time serve as a bridge for the traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries. 2024 will mark 25 years of the establishment of the Vietnamese Association in the Czech Republic. The Vietnamese Embassy will continue to work closely with the Vietnamese Association towards building and developing an increasingly strong, united and well-integrated community in the Czech Republic and looking towards the homeland.

The Embassy will also work harder to foster Vietnam – Czech Republic cooperation in fields of their potential strengths in an effort to realize high-level agreements reached by the two sides.

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