Vietnamese President meets Czech PM on visit’s last day

President Truong Tan Sang met with Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka on the last day of his State visit to the Czech Republic from May 10-13 at the invitation of President Milos Zeman.

The Vietnamese President took the occasion to confirm that Vietnam continually treasures and wishes to enhance its time-honoured friendship with countries in East-Central Europe, with the Czech Republic as a priority, when implementing its foreign policy of openness, multi-lateralisation and diversification.

He said he is satisfied with the positive developments of the two countries’ political-diplomatic and economic-trade-investment ties.

The Vietnamese leader appreciated the Czech Republic for listing of Vietnam as one of the 12 prioritised markets in its 2012-2020 Export Strategy, suggesting the Czech Republic facilitate Vietnamese products in its market.

Vietnam, in turn, is willing to create favourable conditions for the Czech Republic’s advantageous goods to expand its presence in the Vietnamese market and will facilitate its investments in Vietnam in energy, telecommunications, public transportation and machinery, he added.

He also asked the Central European country to provide official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnamese projects involving the environment, forestation, waste treatment, public health and health insurance system reform.

The host described President Sang’s State visit as an important milestone in the bilateral relationship, especially as the two countries celebrate the 65 th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

Vietnam is a priority partner of the Czech Republic in Southeast Asia, he affirmed, adding that cooperation potential between the two countries has yet to be fully tapped.

As an active member of the European Union and a reliable partner of Vietnam, the Czech Republic supports Vietnam in intensifying its relations with the EU, reflected through the country’s ratification of the EU-Vietnam Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation (PCA) and its efforts to hasten the early approval of the PCA and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

The Prime Minister also pledged to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in the country to enable them to contribute more to the bilateral friendship.

Before concluding the visit, the Vietnamese leader also received Vice Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade Jan Zahradil in Prague.

He suggested the Vice Chair continue accelerating the European Parliament’s ratification of the PCA as well as the European Committee’s signing of the EVFTA and its recognition of Vietnam as a market economy.

President Truong Tan Sang then laid a wreath at the Vitkov National Monument and visited the National Museum.

He left Prague for Baku on May 13 for a three-day official visit to Azerbaijan.-VNA

President meets with Czech experts advocating for Vietnam

President Truong Tan Sang met with Czech professors and experts who have greatly supported Vietnam’s struggle for independence and national development on May 12 as part of his visit to the European country.

Among the participants, 80-year-old expert on Vietnamese studies Ivo Vasiljev interpreted for President Ho Chi Minh when a Czechoslovakian delegation visited Vietnam in 1966. He was also the first Czech to translate the late leader’s Nhat ky trong tu (Prison Diary) into the Czech language. Vasiljev also acted as an interpreter during the recent press conference co-hosted by President Truong Tan Sang and his Czech counterpart.

Vladimir Nechyba, 95, was the Deputy Head of a geological expert delegation assisting Vietnam to conduct geological surveys in northern Bac Kan and Thai Nguyen provinces from 1958 to 1962.

Participants also included Chairman of the Czech Republic-Vietnam Friendship Association Marcel Winter, and Jovan Dezort – a former Hanoi-based reporter of the Czechoslovakia News Agency from 1968 – 1972 who wrote a number of articles advocating for Vietnam.

Meeting with President Truong Tan Sang, some Czech attendees said they consider Vietnam their second home having devoted significant time and effort to the country’s development and protection.

They will continue contributing to the two nations’ friendship and mutual understanding among the younger generations, they stressed.

The Vietnamese leader said his country appreciates the assistance from Czech experts, describing facilities built with Czechoslovakian aid such as the Vietnam-Czechoslovakia Friendship Hospital, the Hanoi Children’s Palace, and the Vietnam-Czechoslovakia Lock Factory as vivid evidence of the countries’ close-knit ties.

He also voiced his hope for further support from the Czech experts to the development of bilateral relations.

President attends VNA’s launching of rep office in Prague

State President Truong Tan Sang attended a ceremony to inaugurate the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s representative office in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic during his State visit to the country.

Addressing the event, the President said the establishment of the office, the 30 th of its kind opened by the VNA abroad, is significant as it demonstrates that the country is actively integrating into the world.

He urged VNA correspondents in Prague to promote journalistic traditions and act as ambassadors for friendship and partnership between the two nations and peoples.

The State leader said he hopes the correspondents will improve the quality of their work, providing timely and accurate news of all types to Vietnamese readers and audiences, contributing to fostering the sound relations between Vietnam and the Czech Republic.

Meanwhile, VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi said the opening of the office, coincident with the 70 th anniversary of the VNA, is crucial as the Czech Republic is a strategic central Europe nation in which 65,000 Vietnamese people are living.

The country has also prioritised its relationship with Vietnam as it expands its foreign relations and comprehensive international integration, he noted.

VNA correspondents in Prague have provided diverse information about the Czech Republic and other neighbouring countries, creating a better understanding on the country and the region.

Meanwhile, the correspondents have also provided details of cooperation potential and opportunities between the two countries, and kept track on the progress of the Vietnamese community in the country, which has been officially recognised as an ethnic group within the Czech Republic by the government.

Earlier on May 12, President Truong Tan Sang visited Karlovy Vary province where the famous Moser Glas crystal and glass factory is based.

During a working session with leaders of the factory, he proposed that Moser Glas consider opening a branch in Vietnam in the future, thus reducing the cost of the products in Vietnam and meeting the demand of the country and region.

Meeting the governor of the province, the President spoke highly of the locality’s socio-economic development, suggesting that Karlovy Vary set up a partnership with Vietnamese localities to exchange experience in urban development.

Vietnam, Czech Republic boost defence cooperation

Vietnam and the Czech Republic are positioned to boost defence cooperation, stated Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Defence Truong Quang Khanh during a meeting with his Czech counterpart Tomas Kuchta in Prague on May 12.

Deputy Minister Khanh recommended accelerating the implementation of programmes signed between Vietnamese enterprises and the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Defence as well as extending personnel training activities for the Vietnamese People’s Army.

Khanh also appreciated the cooperation between Vietnam’s National Military Academy and the Brno Military Academy in training and scientific research on military technology, expecting the cooperation to produce new achievements.

Khanh touched upon the dialogue between President Truong Tan Sang and President Milos Zeman during which the Czech Republic agreed to help Vietnam participate in the United Nations' peacekeeping tasks and deal with post-war bombs and mines.

Czech Deputy Minister Kuchta affirmed that the Czech Ministry of Defence would maintain tight cooperation with the Vietnamese Ministry of Defence to implement cooperation contents agreed on by the two ministries.

The same day, Khanh paid a visit to AERO Vodochody Corporation specialising in manufacturing L-39 training aircrafts.

VNA