Vietnam Czech Republic’s most important trade partner in ASEAN: minister
Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic Jozef Sikela on September 2 affirmed that Vietnam is currently his country's most important trade partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Sikela (Photo: VNA)
Prague (VNA) - Minister of Industry and Tradeof the Czech Republic Jozef Sikela on September 2 affirmed that Vietnam iscurrently his country's most important trade partner in the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Sikela cited that two-way trade in 2022 reached a recordlevel of 2.3 billion USD, and is expected to set a new record this year.
According to him, in the first half of this year, the Czech Republic’sexports to Vietnam increased by 48%, while that of the Southeast Asian countryto the Czech Republic rose by 7%.
He attributed the results to strong cooperation between the governments and businesses of the two countries.
The minister said that after his visit to Vietnam inFebruary, his ministry is planning to hold the 8thmeeting of the Czech-Vietnam Economic Joint Committee in Hanoi next year, aswell as to officially participate in one of the major trade fairs in Ho Chi MinhCity.
Regarding the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), heassessed that the continued implementation of the trade deal, especially thegradual reduction of Vietnam's automobile import tax rate by 78% by 2030, cansignificantly contribute to the expansion of the presence of his country’s automobileindustry in Vietnam, and increasing export and investment projects from the CentralEuropean country./.
Vietnam always attaches importance to promoting the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with the Czech Republic, and wishes to further expand cooperation with the country across fields, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son has said.
The Vietnamese Embassy in the Czech Republic and the Czech Chamber of Commerce jointly held a business forum in Prague on June 15 to bolster links between businesses and seek ways to strengthen traditional friendship and multi-faced cooperation of the two countries.
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President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce Zdenek Zajicek proposed the Government focus on several key markets, including Vietnam, while implementing its new export strategy for the 2023-2033 period approved on July 26.
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Viettel was ranked third for overall mobile performance with a score of 82.56 just behind UEA’s e& (88.05) and Quatar’s Ooredoo (87.05) and ahead of Singapore’s Singtel (82.53). Vinaphone took second in 5G speed with a score of 78.11, trailing only behind e&.
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Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Sikela (Photo: VNA) 
