Prague (VNA) – The upcoming visit tothe Czech Republic by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is expected tocreate a driving force for bilateral cooperation, according to an articleposted on the website parlamentnilisty.cz on April 14.

The article said the visit will help enhance thesound political relations between Vietnam and the Czech Republic, adding thatthe two countries are looking ahead to celebrating the 70th anniversary ofdiplomatic ties in 2020.

Despite their geographical distance, Vietnam andthe Czech Republic have a traditional friendly relationship, according to thearticle. 

Particularly, the Czech people supported Vietnamin the fight for national independence, it said.

Bilateral relations have been reinforced inrecent years, especially via the visit to the Czech Republic by NationalAssembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan in April 2017 and the trip to Vietnamby President Milos Zeman in June the same year.

Vietnam and the Czech Republic hold a lot ofpotential to boost development cooperation, the article said, adding that thebilateral relationship was built on the basis of long-standing friendship whilepolitical ties have been continuously reinforced.

In 2013, the Czech government recognised theVietnamese community in the country as an ethnic minority group, showing theimportance and value the government sees in the community, according to thearticle.

It added that Vietnam is an important member ofthe Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – a region of dynamicdevelopment. Vietnam could serve as a bridge for the Czech Republic and theEuropean Union (EU) to step up ties with ASEAN. 

Vice versa, the Czech Republic is an importantmember of the EU and could help Vietnam boost cooperation with the EU, thearticle added.

The EU and the Czech Republic both supportmultilateral trade and the Czech Republic aims to enhance relations with Asiancountries to expand its export markets, it said. 

The article described Vietnam as a potentialmarket with a more than 90-million-strong population and is integrating moreextensively in the world’s economy.

Notably, the Czech Republic is one of theEuropean countries with the advanced science technology, especially inautomobile production, nanotechnology, mining, food processing and beerproduction. This will be an opportunity for the two countries to boostcooperation, the article said.

The article concluded that the upcoming visit tothe Czech Republic by the Vietnamese Prime Minister illustrates the soundpolitical ties between the two nations and will help drive bilateralcollaboration forward.-VNA