Viet Nam treasures multi-faceted relations with Czech Republic: FM
VGP - Viet Nam always treasures the traditional friendship and multi-faceted relations with the Czech Republic, said Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son.
Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son meets President of the Czech Senate Milos Vystrcil in Prague, the Czech Republic, June 9, 2023 - Photo: VNA
Foreign Minister Bui made the statement during his meeting with President of the Czech Senate Milos Vystrcil and his talks with Czech Republic FM Jan Lipavský in Prague on June 9 as part of his two-day official visit to the European country.
At these meetings, Bui said that Viet Nam expects to promote cooperation with the Czech Republic across all sectors, particularly in fields of trade-investment, science-technology, education-training, tourism and people-to-people links.
The Czech leaders reiterated that Viet Nam is a major partner of their country in the Southeast Asian region, speaking highly of Viet Nam's socio-economic development achievements and its increasingly important status and role.
They took note of FM Bui's call for early ratification of the EU-Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).
The Czech Government advocates the European Commission (EC) to early remove the "yellow card" on Vietnamese seafoods, the hosts stated.
Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son (R) meets Czech Republic FM Jan Lipavský in Prague, the Czech Republic, June 9, 2023 - Photo: VNA
Both sides expressed their delight on the maintenance of all-level delegation exchanges, especially the successful official visit of Czech PM Petr Fiala to Viet Nam last April.
Trade and investment are spotlight in the bilateral relationship with the two-way trade value reaching US$848 million in 2022, up nearly 15 percent against the previous year.
Both sides vowed to establish a new relationship framework to boost comprehensive cooperation, take advantages of opportunities brought by the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), and facilitate export commodities access to each country's market.
They emphasized the need to enhance the effectiveness of the operation of the Viet Nam-Czech Republic Intergovernmental Committee on economic cooperation and create favorable conditions for their businesses to promote connectivity.
The two sides also discussed ways to expand collaboration in other areas such as defense-security, education-training, labor, science-technology, culture and tourism.
They pledged to foster close coordination and mutual support at multi-lateral forums and organizations, remarkably at the UN, ASEM and within the ASEAN-EU Strategic Partnership framework.
Regarding the East Sea issue, both sides voiced their support for the principled stance of settling disputes via peaceful means in line with international law and the UN Charter and respect for the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982)./.
