VN, Czech boost all-round ties

Deputy PM Minh began the visit on July 24 at the invitation of Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek. He paid a courtesy meeting with Deputy PM Pavel Belobradek and held talks with Minister Zaoralek and signed a memorandum on cooperation between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs while meeting with Minister of Industry and Trade Jan Mladek, visiting Vietnamese Embassy in Prague and talking to representatives from Vietnamese community in Czech.

During the meetings with the host country’s officials, Deputy PM Minh affirmed that Viet Nam always attached importance to promoting traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries and expressed his belief in the further development of bilateral and multilateral ties in all aspects.

The Czech officials spoke high of Viet Nam’s achievements in the national renewal process, expressed their belief in the country’s important role in maintaining regional peace, stability and development and affirmed that Czech always considered Viet Nam as an important partner in Southeast Asia.

The two sides discussed and agreed on many measures to enhance bilateral relations in many fields, particularly in politics, economics, trade, education, security and defense.

To elevate two-way trade turnover and improve investment cooperation efficiency, both sides agreed to improve the performance of the operation of their intergovernmental economic co-operation committee while facilitating and encouraging their firms to meet, study each other’s market and invest in potential fields of both countries.

They also expressed their pleasure with the close and effective collaboration at international forums and agreed to strengthen the cooperation.

The Czech side pledged to consider Viet Nam’s bids to run for a seat on the UN Economic and Social Council for the 2016–2018 term and the UN Security Council for the 2020–2021 term.

The Czechs also committed to supporting the early conclusion of an EU-Viet Nam free trade agreement while informing the Viet Nam side that it will soon approve the Viet Nam-EU Partnership and Co-operation (PCA) that Viet Nam and the union have signed.

Regarding the East Sea issue, FM Zaoralek affirmed that the Czech Republic backs the settlement of all disputes by peaceful means in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Deputy PM Minh thanked the Czech government for its recognition of the Vietnamese community as the European country’s 14th ethnic minority group, while asking them to continue facilitating the stable settlement of Vietnamese residents.

Both sides said they believed that regular visits by leaders of the two countries would deepen the Viet Nam-Czech relations, meeting the aspirations and benefits of both peoples.

They expressed wishes that President Truong Tan Sang would pay an official visit to the European nation at an appropriate time, expecting it to motivate all-round co-operation between the two countries.

                                                                                                                By Ngoc Van