Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai at the meeting. (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The 6th meeting of the Vietnam-Czech Republic inter-government committee on economiccooperation took place in Hanoi on April 11 to discuss measures for creatingbreakthroughs in bilateral economic ties.
Head of the Vietnamesedelegation to the meeting, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Haiinformed the Czech side on the economic situation in Vietnam in recent time.
He affirmed that Vietnamappreciates the Czech Republic’s move to include Vietnam in the list of 12priority foreign trade market in its export strategy for 2016-2020, adding thatthe two economies are enjoying dynamic growth and deep international economicintegration, which is a favourable condition for bilateral economic, trade andinvestment ties to expand.
Reports show the Czech Republicis one of the largest partners of Vietnam in Central and East Europe. Accordingto Vietnam Customs’ statistics, two-way trade was valued at 257.6 million USDin 2017, up nearly 3 percent from 2016. Of the figure, Vietnam’s exports wereworth 151.4 million USD and imports 106.2 million USD, increases of 3.5 percentand 1.5 percent respectively.
In the first two months of 2018,bilateral trade turnover increased 31.3 percent year on year to reach almost 50million USD, with Vietnam’s exports accounting for 28.1 percent.
Vietnam’s main exports includefootwear, garments, aquatic products, industrial machinery and components, andelectric equipment. It imports from the Czech Republic machinery and equipment,chemicals, pharmaceuticals and glassware.
Regarding investment, the CzechRepublic had 36 valid investment projects worth 90 million USD in Vietnam as ofthe end of February, ranking 49th among 126 countries andterritories investing in the Southeast Asia country.
Vietnamese investors have so farpoured 4.44 million USD in four projects in the Czech Republic.
Sharing the Vietnamese side’sview, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic VladimirBartl expressed his joy at the unceasing development of bilateral ties.
He noted that there is greatpotential for bilateral trade considering the good relations between the twocountries at present.
According to the official, Czechfirms want to seek Vietnamese partners in engineering manufacturing, energy,cement and construction materials, medical and aviation equipment supply, andenvironmental protection.
The 6th meeting ofthe Vietnam-Czech Republic inter-government committee on economic cooperationwas also attended by 15 Czech companies.-VNA
VNA
