 President of the Czech Republic Milos Zeman |
Since Vietnam and the Czech Republic established diplomatic ties on February 2, 1950, their traditional friendship and multi-faceted cooperation have been enhanced. Vietnam treasures its relations with countries in Central and Eastern Europe, including the Czech Republic.
Vietnam, an important partner of Czech Republic
Rodolf Jindrak, Director of the Presidential Office’s Foreign Department, said this will be Mr. Zeman’s first visit to Vietnam as President and one of his most important foreign trips this year.
“The two countries have developed a fine traditional relationship since the Czechoslovakia period. Vietnam is our friend, our important partner, and a gateway for us to enter Asia and Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese community is the third largest ethnic group in the Czech Republic and we respect it,” Jindrak said.
The Czech Republic is the only European country to recognize its Vietnamese community of about 60,000 people as an official ethnic group. The Czech government appreciates Vietnamese people’s contributions to local socio-economic development and to the relations between the two countries.
Economic and trade cooperation have progressed well, with bilateral trade revenue last year reaching 1 billion USD, 22% more than in 2015. In its national export strategy from 2012 to 2020, Czech includes Vietnam as the only ASEAN country on a list of 12 high-priority markets.
Vietnam Airlines is planning direct flights to the Czech Republic. Czech has 35 investment projects in Vietnam, ranking 42nd among 101 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.
Visit highlights and cooperative prospect
Accompanying President Zeman to Vietnam will be representatives of 60 businesses in the energy, IT, pharmaceuticals, water resource management, tourism, and services sectors. The business delegation will include ALTA Brno, INEKON Group, and Metrostav.
Rodolf Jindrak said: “Besides economic issues, we’ll focus on tourism cooperation to improve conditions for Vietnamese and Czech travelers. Last year, 14,000 Czech people visited Vietnam, a good sign for tourism cooperation. I appreciate the mutual understanding between our nations.”
The visit reflects the Czech Republic’s desire to enhance its friendship and effective cooperation with Vietnam.