Ambassador of Vietnam to the Czech Republic Thai Xuan Dung. (Photo: HL)

Currently in Vietnam, there are over 200,000 people who have studied or worked in the Czech Republic. Some of them hold key roles in public administration or state enterprises. On top, there is a strong Vietnamese community of around 90,000 members in Czechia. In the interview for TRADE NEWS, Ambassador Thai Xuan Dung talked about how this specific factor translates into mutual business relations and what industries offer the best opportunities for Czech companies in Vietnam.

What is the current position of the Vietnamese community in our country?

Today, Vietnamese form the third largest minority in the Czech Republic after Ukrainians and Slovaks. I am convinced that they are seen as an example of assiduity, dynamism, creativity and a willingness to gradually get past the language barrier in order to integrate more deeply, widely and sustainably into Czech society. The majority of Vietnamese people in the Czech Republic are employed and have steady incomes, many of them have achieved great success in various fields, from business to medicine or culture. More and more members of the Vietnamese community have university degrees and some even lecture at universities.

Many Vietnamese associations also operate in the Czech Republic - their members consist of intellectuals and businesspeople from Vietnamese-Czech multicultural families. The associations are created to teach Vietnamese and spread Vietnamese culture, including traditional festivals.

All this surely contributes to building mutual business relations between our countries. How do you perceive it?

There are a lot of successful Vietnamese businesspeople in the Czech Republic, which is representing good reputation for Vietnam, contributing significantly to fostering trade and business cooperation between our two nations.

In addition, there are more than 200,000 people living in Vietnam who previously studied and worked in your country. These people with experience from the Czech Republic, along with the Vietnamese community here, are acting as emissaries and bridges connecting our two countries and have contributed greatly to fostering the long-standing traditional friendship and multi-faceted co-operation between Vietnam and the Czech Republic.

Speaking of trade figures, Vietnam is one of the Czech Republic's top non-EU partners, while your country currently ranks 49th out of 139 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 41 investment projects and a total registered capital of more than 92 million USD, focusing on the fields of real estate, beer, building and electrical equipment.