(VNF) – A conference discussing promoting the ties in economics and trade with Vietnam was held on May 3 in the capital city of Prague, Czech Republic. The conference was held by the Vietnamese Embassy in Czech republic, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Parliament of the Czech republic, aiming to update Czech enterprises on the business-investment environment in Vietnam.

The conference emphasized the Vietnam - Czech positive traditional political-diplomatic ties in nearly 70 years, which has been creating an impetus for the progress of partnerships in economics and trade.

According to report presented at the conference, in recent years, annual twoway trade saw relatively high growth rate. Remarkably, in 2017, the value was over USD 1 billion, marking a 12-per-cent year-on-year increase.

However, most of the value was attributed to exports from Vietnam, which cause trade imbalance.

Overview of the conference (source: VOV)

In addition, Czech’s investment to Vietnam remains modest. By the end of April 2018, there are only 36 projects from the European country, with total registered capital of nearly USD 100 million.

Meanwhile, in Czech, there are only four Vietnamese investment projects worth USD 5 million. The average value per project remains very low (USD 2-3 million/project).

As the co-chair of the conference, Vietnamese Ambassador to Czech, Ho Minh Tuan, stated that Vietnam and Czech have yet to tap the full potentials for cooperation in trade and investment and also yet to meet with the two sides’ demand.

He therefore called upon the two sides to exert more efforts in persifying bilateral trade ties, stressing that boosting collaboration in tourism, skilled workers exchange, and encouraging different economic sectors to actively take part in developing trade ties, and cooperation between localities, played a significant role in deepening the two countries' economics, trade and investment ties.

At the same time, the ambassador affirmed that Vietnam always created the best condition for foreign enterprises, including Czech firms to secure a foothold in the Vietnamese market.

Also in the event, delegates were briefed on policies which offer incentives for Vietnam – Czech cooperation in economics, trade and investment, and projects focusing on attracting foreign investment in Vietnam nowadays.

Furthermore, in the conference, representatives of the Vietnamese Trade Office in Czech Republic and the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade gave the participants a brief reports on the result of the sixth meeting of the Vietnam – Czech Inter-governmental Committee on economic cooperation, which was recently held in Hanoi, aiming to create a breakthrough in bilateral cooperations areas which two sides are interested in.

A conference on promoting Vietnam-Czech trade ties in December 2017 (source: VOV)

In the conference, delegates from two sides also discussed several challenges facing two countries in entering each other’s market, including the shortage of market information, investment policy, difficulties in visa issuance for Vietnamese enterprises, laborers and tourists to travel to Czech.

Zuzana Zahradníková, Vice Chairwoman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Parliament of the Czech republic, hailed the potentials for cooperation for Vietnam and Czech, and expressed her hope that the challenges facing the development of bilateral ties, including visa issuance, will soon be settled.

“Despite the vast geographical distance, I think we are quite close to each other in terms of certain aspects, including mutual understandings and the similar education value. I will do everything in my authorities to support and promote bilateral trade ties. The difficulties in visa issuance for Vietnamese who wish to come to Czech for business or travel need to be settled soon, to make sure it does not hinder our cooperation progress” she emphasized.

Jiri Charvat, CEO of DIV – CZ, a limited company operating in energy sector said Vietnam is one of the markets his firm is eyeing.

He also spoke highly of the conference, since it provided him a great deal of valuable information on investing in Vietnam in a wide range of sectors, from industry, construction, agriculture,energy to telecommunication and environmental protection.

According to Charvat, one of his friend is investing in a small-scale project in hydro-power in an area adjacent to Da Lat and a solar energy power project in Phan Rang.

"I think Vietnam will be our choice in the time to come,” he added.

According to Ambassador Ho Minh Tuan, in order to hold a successful conference, the Embassy had paid immense attention to the preparation process, especially in selecting appropriate topics, partners and participants, to ensure the quality of the conference.

Promoting bilateral ties in trade, economics and investment is currently the top priority of the Vietnamese Embassy in Czech.

Earlier, in the meeting with Vice Chairwoman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Parliament of the Czech republic Zuzana Zahradníková, ambassador Hồ Minh Tuấn requested the Parliament of the Czech republic to ratify the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), to boost trade with EU and Czech. He also urged Czech to facilitate the cooperation of two countries, especially in the recruitment of Vietnamese skilled labourers in the tourism field./.

( Translated by Phi Yen )