The central city of Da Nang and Brno of the Czech Republic have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in a bid to strengthen relations and boost comprehensive co-operation as from September 15. 

At the online meeting between Brno city and Danang city representatives

This marks a significant event that is taking place amid complicated developments relating to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the Central European nation.

During a recent online meeting, representatives from the two cities discussed possible co-operation in tourism, high technology, and information technology. 

Da Nang currently enjoys strengths in terms of developing information technology and high technology, whilst it has also set a goal of becoming a big, ecological, smart city, in addition to being a centre for start-up and innovation.

Most notably, the central-costal city boasts an array of natural strengths for tourism development, sharing plenty of similarities with the city of Brno in the Czech Republic. Based on this, representatives from the Department of Tourism of Da Nang proposed future co-operation ties with Brno. 

This would involve co-operation and exchanges of experience to promote the value of natural and cultural heritage for the purpose of tourism development, along with organising events, exhibitions, and conferences of a regional and international stature.

Ivo Bednar, head of External Relations Office of Brno, highlighted the Czech city as a centre of technology and tertiary education which hosts one of the largest trade fairs in Eastern Europe and is considered to be a top travel destination in the Czech Republic.

With these strengths, Bednar believes that the establishment of a partnership will serve to create conditions for the two cities to intensify exchanges whilst learning from each other for the purpose of mutual development.

Through the active support of the Vietnamese Embassy in the Czech Republic, along with the Vietnamese Association in Brno and the South Morava region, the relationship between Da Nang and its Czech partners has created plenty of opportunities for both networking and development, especially following leaders of the Vietnamese city taking a business trip to the Czech Republic in 2019.

The MoU therefore aims to reinforce the special friendship that exists between the people of the two cities, whilst opening a window of opportunity for co-operation in a number of fields. This includes investment, tourism, and high-quality services, in addition to resort real estate, high-tech industry, innovative urban construction and start-up, education, information technology, electronics and telecommunications industries, and the digital economy.

The signing of the MoU is also a special event that marks the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and the Czech Republic. For Da Nang, the signing of the MoU will help to boost friendship and co-operation ties with Brno as the pair work on becoming twin cities.