ANN/VIET NAM NEWS – Vietnamese foreign minister Bùi Thanh Son held phone talks with his Czech counterpart Jan Lipavský on Friday, during which he underlined that Vietnam always seeks to promote its relationships and traditional friendships, including with the Czech Republic – one of the country’s priority partners in Central Eastern Europe.
Son thanked the Czech Republic for providing 250,800 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to Vietnam, helping the country fight the pandemic.
The two ministers value positive progress in the relations between the two countries over the years through the regular exchange of delegations at all levels.
They shared delight at the close and effective coordination between the two ministries at multilateral forums.
They agreed to continue strengthening cooperation and mutual support at international and regional organisations.
Lipavský said that the Czech Republic considered Vietnam one of the Asia-Pacific region’s prioritised economic, trade and investment partners. The two foreign ministers showed pleasure in the outcomes of the bilateral economic partnership.
They agreed on the need to bolster the substantial and effective collaboration in areas of both sides’ strengths and demands while encouraging and creating favourable conditions for joint projects, optimising the European Union (EU)-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement.
Both sides should effectively implement the results of the seventh meeting of the Vietnam-Czech Republic Inter-Governmental Committee on Economic Cooperation that was held in Prague in June, they said. Lipavský affirmed that the Czech government backs promoting ties between Vietnam and the EU.
As the rotating chair of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2022, the Czech Republic will hasten EU agencies to consider Vietnam’s proposal on the removal of the “yellow card” from the Vietnamese fisheries sector, and EU member countries to soon ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement.
