Vietnam, Czech elevate ties to strategic partnership

Vietnam has become the first Southeast Asian country to have a strategic partnership with the Czech Republic.

During his official visit to the Central European country from January 18-20, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held talks with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala on Monday.

The two leaders announced to lift Vietnam-Czech relations to a strategic partnership on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations (1950-2025), and to soon build an action program for this new framework.

To date, Vietnam has established comprehensive strategic partnerships with nine countries, including China, Russia, India, South Korea, the U.S., Japan, Australia, France and Malaysia. The country has strategic partnerships with Spain, England, Germany, Italy, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, New Zealand and Brazil.

Czech has become the first Central Eastern European country in the EU to have a strategic partnership with Vietnam.

At the meeting, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala affirmed that Vietnam is the most important and closest country of the Czech Republic in Asia.

The two sides agreed to promote cooperation within the Strategic Partnership framework, including agreements signed between the two countries, promoting cooperation in traditional fields such as defense-security, trade-investment, science-technology, education-training, culture-tourism and people-to-people exchanges.

The two countries also agreed to expand cooperation into areas that create new growth drivers such as renewable energy, innovation, digital transformation, green and circular economy, information technology, health care, mining, energy, and food security.

Regarding trade and investment, the two sides agreed to continue implementing existing economic cooperation mechanisms; encourage Czech businesses to expand investment in Vietnam, especially in areas where the Czech Republic has strengths such as the automobile supporting industry, renewable energy, machine manufacturing, mineral processing and exploitation, chemicals, and food processing.

PM Chinh asked the Czech Government to help push the remaining EU countries to soon ratify the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), and support the European Commission's (EC) early removal of the "yellow card" for Vietnamese seafood exports regarding illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The two sides agreed to support and serve as a gateway for each other's goods to enter the ASEAN and EU markets.

PM Petr Fiala assessed Vietnam as one of Czech's most potential markets in Asia-Pacific, with more and more Czech businesses being interested in expanding investment and business in Vietnam.

Fiala agreed that the two sides need to strengthen cooperation in the fields of food industry, manufacturing and processing industry, and mineral exploitation and processing.

He agreed with PM Chinh's proposal to soon open direct flights between the two countries and via the Czech Republic to Central and Eastern Europe.

Fiala highly appreciated Vietnam's decision to waive visas for Czech citizens in 2025.

After the talks, the two prime ministers witnessed the handing over of a number of cooperation documents in the fields of education, and pilot training between Vietnam's Vietjet and Czech F Air.

At the Vietnam-Czech business forum on Monday, Minister of Industry and Trade Lukáše Vlčka stated that Vietnam is the Czech Republic's most important economic partner in Southeast Asia.

Vlčka noted that Vietnamese products such as clothes, shoes and coffee are very popular in the Czech Republic, while Czech businesses have a great reputation in Vietnam in such fields as defense industry, automobile production, and energy.

The minister added that Czech businesses can invest in areas that Vietnam is focusing on developing such as semiconductors, Big Data, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things, energy, and infrastructure.

He highlighted that Skoda Group's presence in the Vietnamese market is a historic event. Skoda plans to produce 30,000 vehicles in Vietnam each year for export to ASEAN countries. The company's car factory which is a cooperation with Vietnam's Thanh Cong in Quang Ninh province is expected to operate in the first quarter of 2025.

Vietnam's Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien noted that the Czech Republic is currently the 10th largest trading partner and the 13th largest investor of Vietnam in the EU. Bilateral trade expanded very quickly, on average doubling after five years.

In 2023, bilateral trade turnover reached $2.9 billion. The figure surged to $3.8 billion last year, of which $3.3 billion was Vietnam's exports.

Currently, Vietnamese products to Czech mainly include agricultural products such as coffee, pepper, rice, rubber; seafood; textiles; handicrafts; and computer components.

Czech exports many products to Vietnam such as electronics, machinery and equipment, mechanical products, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, milk and dairy products, and glass products.

The areas this Central European country holding strong cooperation potential are energy, locomotives-railway carriages, buses, trams, and agricultural machinery.

Czech has 41 FDI projects in Vietnam with total registered capital of $92 million, focusing mainly on the processing, manufacturing and mining industries.

František Chaloupecký, vice president of the Czech Transport Industry Federation which has more than 10,000 members contributing 40% to the country's GDP, commented that there is no other country in the world as close to the Czech Republic in terms of government, cultural, and trade relations as Vietnam.

Chaloupecký also assessed that the Vietnamese market has many good opportunities for Czech businesses in the fields of wastewater treatment, energy, automobiles, and healthcare.