Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister Petr Fiala, and other delegates attend the Czech-Vietnam Business Forum

The forum was held recently in Hanoi by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in collaboration with the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Vietnam and the Czech Chamber of Commerce on the occasion of the official visit to Vietnam by Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala.

According to Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Vietnam is an important partner of the Czech Republic in Southeast Asia, with a good traditional relationship cultivated over the past 70 years. This relationship is further strengthened by the Vietnamese community living and working in the Czech Republic and Czech investors doing business successfully in Vietnam. The two countries have implemented fruitful and vibrant cooperation with each other in many fields such as mining, medical equipment, finance and defense, science, research and innovation. Colt CZ Group and OMNIPOL Group, among other Czech firms, are successfully investing in Vietnam. This makes the two economies more resilient and ready for new challenges.

The Czech Republic has a number of advantages in energy transition, healthcare, research and innovation among other spheres, he added. As both sides have already entered into the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), Vietnam and the Czech Republic will make good use of EVFTA advantages to boost economic and trade cooperation for the benefit of businesses and people and national interests of both countries.

He also expressed his belief that the governments of the two sides will continue to develop this fine relationship and strive to support and facilitate Czech and Vietnamese citizens to do business and visit each other by, for example, establishing direct flights between the two countries or opening a Czech Cultural Center in Hanoi. In order to further facilitate the two-way relations, Prime Minister Fiala suggested that the two sides consider leaving the trade mechanism open with fewer restrictions.

According to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, in the open, multifaceted and diversified foreign policy, Vietnam always treasures, consolidates and enhances friendly and cooperative relations with traditional friends, including the Czech Republic.

Although the world economy has been seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and complicated world geopolitics in recent years, Vietnam's economy has still developed relatively high and sustainably. In 2022, in the context that the global economic and trade contracted and exposed to many risks, Vietnam's economy continued to grow as rapidly as over 8%, becoming one of the best performers in the region and in the world. Total import and export value reached a record high of more than US$732 billion, up 10% over 2021, becoming one of 20 leading economies in the world in terms of international trade. Disbursed foreign direct investment (FDI) value climbed 13.5% to more than US$22 billion. Financial and monetary markets and macroeconomic fundamentals were stable. The consumer price index (CPI) was also controlled at 3.15% while major economic balances were generally secured. These results show that Vietnam will continue to be a destination for international investors, including Czech investors.

Vietnamese and Czech economies are developing at a high pace and concurrently speeding up deep integration into the world economy, he said. The Vietnamese government is committed to keeping working closely with the Czech government, increasing experience sharing in areas of mutual potential and interest such as energy, environment, science and technology, education and training, and tourism. At the same time, Vietnam pledges to create the best business environment towards OECD standards by maintaining sociopolitical and macroeconomic stability; removing economic bottlenecks in terms of legal institutions, infrastructure and human resources; developing supply chains, reducing transaction costs, especially logistics and administrative costs; and building a stable, predictable, transparent and accountable policy environment.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that, during their talks with the Czech counterpart, they agreed on many important contents to enhance the efficiency of two-way economic and trade cooperation in the coming time by enabling the two countries to expand access to each other's markets and bringing the trade value to US$1 billion in the next 1-2 years.

VCCI President Pham Tan Cong said, Vietnamese and Czech trade and investment cooperation has come to fruition but still holds high prospects for development. The Vietnamese business community highly appreciates that the Czech Republic always attaches importance to developing its cooperation ties with Vietnam and places Vietnam as the only country in Southeast Asia on its list of 12 key markets for prioritized foreign trade. The Czech Republic is also one of the first EU countries to ratify the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement and is also supporting the push for the remaining 15 EU countries to soon ratify this pact.

Based on their potential prospects, he suggested that Vietnamese and Czech businesses actively connect and find new areas and opportunities for cooperation to boost the two-way trade and investment value. “VCCI will always be willing to support the business communities of the two countries. With the attention of the Government and the Prime Minister, the cooperation between Vietnamese and Czech businesses will soon produce new outcomes and help foster trade and investment relations between Vietnam and the Czech Republic, he confirmed.