Vietnam attaches importance to relations with Slovakia
VOV.VN - Vietnam always values traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Slovakia, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told his Slovakian counterpart Robert Fico during their meeting in Davos, on January 17 (local time).
Chinh thanked Slovakia for supporting Vietnam over the past 70 years, including training officials, many of whom are currently holding key positions in the Government.
He also thanked the Government and people of Slovakia for donating 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Vietnam during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, partly helping the country soon overcome the disease and reboot the economy.
Chinh appreciated Slovakia supporting the enforcement of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and ratifying the EU-vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), and affirmed that the government creates the best possible conditions for Slovakian firms to do business in Vietnam.
He also proposed that Slovakia encourage the European Commission to soon remove its illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) warnings against Vietnamese seafood exports to the bloc.
The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in the fields of their strengths, including education, and support each other at multilateral cooperation forums, such as the United Nations, ASEM, and the ASEAN-EU cooperation mechanism.
Fico expressed hope that Vietnam would waive visas for Slovak citizens to further facilitate tourism and business and investment activities between the two countries.
Chinh spoke highly of the Slovak Government’s recent decision to recognize the Vietnamese community in Slovakia as an ethnic minority group, and hoped that Slovakia would create more favourable conditions for the community to have a stable life, integrate well into the host community, and promote friendship between the people of the two countries.
