Vietnam, Czech Republic poised to raise two-way trade turnover to US$3 billion

This comes following Vietnamese Ambassador to the Czech Republic Thai Xuan Dung recently holding a working session with representatives of the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade to propose steps to further promote traditional friendship co-operation between both sides, especially economic and trading ties.

During the working session, Ambassador Dung congratulated the Czech Republic for their effective vaccination rollout which has contained the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst also sharing some information regarding the Vietnamese pandemic situation.

He went on to express his sincere thanks to the Government and people of the Czech Republic for donating 250,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the country, as well as helping the Vietnamese community to cope with the pandemic in the country of residence.

Last year saw bilateral trade turnover reach US$1.5 billion, an increase of 22% over the same period from last year. Following this, the first half of the year witnessed the turnover reach US$936 million, representing an annual rise of 28%. In relation to the figure, Czech imports from the nation stood at an estimated US$892 million, whilst its exports to the Vietnamese market stood at over US$44 million.

Ambassador Dung also thanked the Czech Government and Parliament for their support for the EU's ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). Indeed, the Czech Republic is the first member state of the EU to adopt the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

Despite being heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral trade between both sides has maintained strong growth momentum, with product structure being expanded, and exports from the Czech Republic yielding encouraging results. This therefore proves that firms from sides, especially those from the Czech Republic, have made good use of the EVFTA. The economic structure of the two countries can be considered as highly complementary, with there being plenty of room for further development moving forward, according to the Vietnamese diplomat.

Furthermore, the Vietnamese diplomat suggested that the two sides continue to take full advantage of the EVFTA and EVIPA in order to promote faster, stronger, and more sustainable growth of trade and investment across multiple fields. This can serve to contribute to strengthening the relationship between the two countries, as well as between the nation and the EU.

He also asked the ministries of trade and industry of both sides to closely co-ordinate efforts to successfully organise the seventh session of the Vietnam - Czech Republic Intergovernmental Committee on economic co-operation, an event which is set to take place ahead in 2022.

With regard to investment co-operation, the country welcomes and is ready to create favourable conditions for enterprises of the two countries to boost investment connectivity and co-operation in production. This is along with increasing business activities in accordance with legal regulations through specific projects, such as co-operation in manufacturing and assembling cars between Skoda Auto and Thanh Cong Motor in Vietnam, especially the launch of a direct Hanoi - Prague route by Bamboo Airways in the near future.

In response, Czech Deputy Minister Tauberova expressed her appreciation for Vietnamese socio-economic development in recent years, especially the nation's success in carrying out the dual goal of ensuring pandemic prevention and control alongside socio-economic development.

Deputy Minister Tauberova thanked the Vietnamese Government and people and the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic for their timely support and assistance to the Czech Government and people when the pandemic first broke out in the Central European country.

She expressed her hope that that in the near future, both sides will have plenty of opportunities to co-operate in new fields such as automobile technology, while striving to meet the goal of doubling mutual trade turnover reaching US$3 billion within the next two years. This remains a highly ambitious goal, requiring greater efforts from both nations.