At noon on January 20 local time, in Prague, after holding talks, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala met with the press to announce the results of the talks.
On this occasion, the two Prime Ministers witnessed the signing of an Agreement between the Government of Vietnam and the Government of the Czech Republic on cooperation in the field of education; on pilot training between Vietjet of Vietnam and F Air of the Czech Republic.
Speaking to the press, the Czech Prime Minister happily announced that at the talks, the two sides agreed to upgrade their relationship to a Strategic Partnership.
"There is no country in Asia with which we have such a deep and open relationship as Vietnam and this is the right time to decide to turn the relationship to a new page," Prime Minister Petr Fiala emphasized, assessing that the relationship between the two countries has been very successful, economic cooperation has also grown, bilateral trade has increased rapidly and Czech companies are very interested in investing in Vietnam. He affirmed that Vietnam is the most important partner in Southeast Asia and has great room and potential for cooperation.
The Czech Prime Minister reviewed important investment projects that have made progress in the past two years, such as the Skoda automobile factory in Quang Ninh, or the Sev.en group's acquisition of shares in Mong Duong 2 Thermal Power Plant, which have contributed to raising bilateral relations. The Czech side has also delivered the 39th aircraft to Vietnam and will continue to deliver new aircraft.
Appreciating the large participation of hundreds of businesses at the Vietnam – Czech Business Forum held the same morning, the Head of the Czech Government believes that there will be more agreements between businesses of the two countries in the fields of automobiles, energy, defense industry, mining, aviation, petrochemical refining, etc. He affirmed that the Czech Republic can supply new technologies and new energy to Vietnam, including nuclear power.
The Czech Prime Minister assessed that the educational cooperation agreement between the two governments shows the Czech side's support for this field, allowing the two sides to exchange lecturers and students, creating new momentum for bilateral relations.
The agreement on pilot training between the two airlines is significant both theoretically and practically. The two sides will also promote the opening of direct flights between the two sides and air links with other countries.
Along with that, the two sides discussed research and development cooperation. Czech enterprises are eager to exchange cooperation opportunities in wind and solar energy, medical and biological technology with the Vietnamese side.
Assessing that Vietnamese people are very interested in Czech art and films, the Czech Prime Minister hopes to soon establish a Czech Cultural Center in Hanoi.
"I am confident that our meeting and the Business Forum this morning will bring very concrete business opportunities, further strengthening the relationship between the two countries. I am very pleased to have the opportunity to mention a series of important projects in bilateral relations and the two sides can absolutely take the relationship to a new level," said the Czech Prime Minister.
Vietnam's first strategic partner in Central Eastern Europe
For his part, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh thanked the Czech side for the warm and sincere welcome given to the Vietnamese delegation. "I am very pleased to meet Prime Minister Petr Fiala again - two years after his visit to Vietnam and during this visit, we have much to talk about, much to do and many achievements to report to the people," the Prime Minister said.
The head of the Vietnamese Government expressed his admiration for the Czech Republic's development achievements, especially in the difficult situation after the COVID-19 pandemic, and thanked the Czech Republic for its wholehearted, righteous, selfless, and pure support for Vietnam over the past 75 years with very special feelings.
From those results, the two sides agreed to upgrade the relationship and the Czech Republic became Vietnam's first strategic partner in Central Eastern Europe.
According to the Prime Minister, the world today is polarizing politically, diversifying markets, products, supply chains, greening production, business and services, digitizing all human activities and developing the digital economy. In addition, the world is also facing issues such as climate change, population aging, resource depletion, etc.
These are all-people, comprehensive and global issues. Therefore, the two countries must unite, unify and cooperate more closely with an all-people, comprehensive and global approach, on the basis of existing cooperation traditions, renewing traditional areas of cooperation and promoting new areas (such as digital economy, green economy, circular economy, sharing economy, knowledge economy, creative economy), making the best use of the potential differences, outstanding opportunities, and competitive advantages in bilateral relations for mutual development, bringing benefits to both countries and contributing to peace, stability and development in the region.
Sharing some important contents in the strategic partnership that the two countries have just upgraded, the Prime Minister said that the two sides will further strengthen political and diplomatic trust and promote high-level delegations.
In terms of economy, exploit the potential for stronger, more specific and more effective economic, trade and investment cooperation, promote large Czech investment projects, and strive for bilateral trade turnover to reach 5 billion USD.
Regarding science, technology, education - training and labor, Vietnam determined that in the new era, it must develop based on science and technology, innovation, digital transformation and welcomes Czech cooperation in this field.
Along with that, strengthen, enhance and deepen defense and security cooperation, including defense trade and technology transfer.
The fifth area is to facilitate more cultural and people-to-people exchanges and tourism, agree to establish a Vietnamese cultural center in Prague and a Czech cultural center in Hanoi, connect aviation "one route, many destinations" and reconnect railway transport in the coming years.
The Prime Minister also said that Vietnam has decided to apply short-term visa exemption for Czech citizens within the framework of the Vietnam Tourism Stimulus Program in 2025. The two sides also reached high consensus on extradition and labor cooperation agreements.
Sixth is to closely coordinate at international and multilateral forums, contributing to enhancing the role, position and prestige in the international arena of each country; as well as sharing information on issues of mutual concern.
Seventh is to create more favorable conditions for 100,000 Vietnamese people to live, work, research and study in the Czech Republic to contribute to the development of each country and to the relationship between the two countries.
With the spirit of valuing time, intelligence and decisiveness as the decisive factors for success, "what is said must be done, what is committed must be done, what is done must bring about specific and measurable results", the Prime Minister affirmed that Vietnam will do its utmost to promote the strategic partnership between the two countries, bringing benefits to each country and contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.
On this occasion, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh invited Prime Minister Petr Fiala to visit Vietnam again; and conveyed the greetings and invitations to visit Vietnam from General Secretary To Lam, President Luong Cuong and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man to the Czech leaders.
Source: https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/thu-tuong-petr-fiala-tai-chau-a-czech-co-quan-he-sau-sac-va-rong-mo-nhat-voi-viet-nam-385895.html
![[Photo] Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs Government Conference with localities on economic growth](https://vstatic.vietnam.vn/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/2/21/f34583484f2643a2a2b72168a0d64baa)
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