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Nguyen Muoi, President of the Vietnam-Czech Republic Friendship Association in HCM City addresses the event. Photo: HUFO

The Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship Organisations (HUFO) and the city’s Vietnam-Czech Republic Friendship Association co-held a gather on November 16 to mark the 101^st Independence Day of the Czech Republic (November 28).

The event drew Dana Eltomova, First Secretary, Consular Section of the Czech Republic Embassy in Vietnam; Ngo Hong Chuyen, Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic in HCM City, and representatives from Czech offices and businesses in the city, as well as Vietnamese people who studied and worked in the European country.

Addressing the event, Nguyen Muoi, President of the Vietnam-Czech Republic Friendship Association in HCM City highlighted the time-honoured traditional friendship between the two countries.

Vietnamese people always keep in their mind the support that the Czechoslovakia in the past and the current Czech Republic, has given to Vietnam during its national struggle for liberation as well as national construction and defence, Muoi said.

He noted that in recent years, the two countries have enjoyed progress in partnership both bilaterally and multilaterally.

The two sides have increase visits at all levels, while building a new plan of actions to realize the bilateral strategic partnership and mark the 70^th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations in 2020, he said.

Muoi underscored that the Association highly values the support and assistance by the Czech Republic Embassy in Vietnam as well as the Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic in HCM City.

For her part, Dana Eltomova thanks the Vietnamese side for organizing the event which she believes that will contribute to enhancing mutual understanding, solidarity and friendship between people of both countries.

She stressed that in 2020, the Czech Republic will hold various activities to celebrate the 70-year ties with Vietnam and promote the traditional partnership between the two countries, especially in economy, culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchange.

Currently, the Czech Republic is a major trade partner of Vietnam in Europe with two-way trade reaching 307 million USD in 2018, up 16 percent over the previous year.

About 70,000 Vietnamese people are living in the Czech Republic, forming a recognised ethnic minority group in the country./.