Prague (VNA) – Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Martin Tlapa spokehighly of Vietnam’s increasing role in the international arena while attendinga grand ceremony held by the Vietnamese Embassy in the Czech Republic to mark74th anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day on September 10.

He expressed his impression on the dynamic economic development of theSoutheast Asian country, and rejoiced at the increasing bilateral economic andtrade cooperation in the past time.

Last year, two-way trade reached over 1.17 billion USD, with Czech exportsworth 140 million USD. Thus, the Czech Republic wants to seek cooperationopportunities to improve trade balance with Vietnam, he added.

He spoke highly of the contributions by the Vietnamese community and theVietnamese-Czech to the host nation, adding they serve as a bridge to boost thefruitful relations between the two countries.

Based on similarities and mutual understanding, the Czech Republic wishes topromote win-win collaboration with Vietnam across the fields of transport,digital market, finance, tourism and people-to-people exchange. Particularly,the Czech Republic wants to coordinate with Vietnam to effectively carry outtheir cooperation contents reached during Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’sofficial visit to the former in April, he added.

Vietnamese Ambassador Ho Minh Tuan took the occasion to highlight Vietnam’sachievements in the national construction and development in the past time, andthank international friends and community, including the Czech Republic, forsupporting Vietnam, especially when the country undertakes the role as anon-permanent member of the United Nations Security for the 2020-2021 tenure.

Ambassador Tuan stressed the Vietnam-Czech relations have been elevated to anew high after PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to the central European country.

Currently, both nations are preparing for the celebration to mark the 70th anniversary of their bilateral diplomatic ties in 2020, with focus on enhancinghigh-level visits so as to develop the cooperative relations into a morepractical and effective manner.

He particularly underlined that the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) andthe EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) signed earlier this yearwill open more opportunities to enhance collaboration in trade and economy.

Regarding the community of 80,000 Vietnamese people in the Czech Republic,Ambassador Tuan affirmed they are playing an important role in promoting thetraditional friendship between the two nations, hoping that the CzechGovernment and people will create favourable conditions for them so that theycan better integrate in the host country./.