Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visits Europe

The trip was at the invitation of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, and Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Klaus Schwab.

Promote extensive cooperation

From a bilateral perspective, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Hang, the Prime Minister's official visit to Poland and the Czech Republic and his working visit to Switzerland are important opportunities for Vietnam to promote deeper cooperation with countries as well as the Central Eastern European region and the EU, promote the role of a bridge between Poland and the Czech Republic with ASEAN, strengthen coordination in solving regional and global issues, and contribute to peace, stability, cooperation and sustainable development in each region and in the world.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at WEF 54 taking place in January 2024

For the Czech Republic and Poland, the visit is very special because it takes place on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Poland and the Czech Republic (February 1950 - February 2025). Many projects across the country have marked the support and assistance of the country and people of Poland and the Czech Republic for Vietnam, such as the Vietnam - Poland Hospital in Nghe An, the Vietnam - Poland High School in Hanoi, or the Vietnam - Czech Friendship Hospital, the Hanoi Children's Cultural Palace, etc.

“The Prime Minister and senior leaders of the countries will discuss and agree on important measures to continuously strengthen political trust, enhance the strategic nature of cooperation contents, renew traditional cooperation areas such as economics - trade - investment, labor, education - training, culture, tourism..., create momentum, make breakthroughs in potential and important areas such as defense, security, innovation, information technology, digital transformation, green transformation, renewable energy, transport connectivity...", Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Hang said.

From a multilateral perspective, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s attendance at the 55th WEF Davos Conference with the theme “Cooperation in the Smart Age” is highly anticipated by the WEF Board of Directors and the global business community. This is an important opportunity for the international community and large enterprises to directly discuss with the Prime Minister and leaders of ministries, sectors, localities and enterprises about development orientations, priorities and opportunities that Vietnam can bring to enterprises in the current period of profound world transformation.

“The Prime Minister will convey important messages about Vietnam's determination, aspirations and vision towards strategic development goals in the next 20 years. With in-depth exchanges at the conference attended by more than 3,000 leaders of countries, international organizations and the world's leading corporations, we also promptly grasp the development trends of the times, the flows that are shaping the smart era, thereby building mechanisms, policies and measures to take advantage of opportunities and minimize negative impacts from new trends,” according to Ms. Hang.

Leading trading partner in Central Eastern Europe

Poland and the Czech Republic are Vietnam’s leading trade partners in the Central Eastern European region. Cooperation in areas such as defense – security, education – training, science – technology, culture – sports and tourism, labor, etc. has developed positively.

Vietnam - Poland trade turnover by November 2024 reached 3.1 billion USD. As of October 2024, Poland ranked 21st out of 149 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 32 valid investment projects, total registered investment capital reaching 473 million USD, mainly in the form of 100% foreign capital. Vietnam has 4 investment projects in Poland with a total investment capital of 1.84 million USD, in the fields of services and processing industry.

Two-way trade turnover in 2023 between Vietnam and the Czech Republic will reach nearly 1.134 billion USD, of which Vietnam will export 958 million USD to the Czech Republic and import more than 176 million USD from the Czech Republic.

Vietnam exports to the Czech Republic products such as: coffee, pepper, fresh and dried fruits, peanuts, tea, rice, rubber, seafood, footwear, textiles, handicrafts, computer components, etc. Vietnam imports from the Czech Republic electronics, machinery, chemicals, garments, textile fibers, leather, milk and dairy products, pharmaceuticals, mechanical products, plastics, glass, etc.

Currently, the Czech Republic has 41 FDI projects in Vietnam with a total capital of 92 million USD (ranked 50/149), mainly focusing on the processing, manufacturing and mining industries. The Czech Republic's strong investment cooperation areas are energy, locomotives - railway cars, buses, electric trains, agricultural machinery, irrigation equipment. The Czech Republic is currently implementing a project to establish an automobile manufacturing joint venture between SKODA Auto Group and Thanh Cong Group in Quang Ninh with a total value of 450 million USD (expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2025). In addition, the Czech Republic's Sev.en Global Investment Group is completing the missing documents to acquire 51% of the shares of Mong Duong 2 coal-fired power plant in Quang Ninh.

Vietnam has 4 investment projects in the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic is the first Eastern European country to provide ODA to Vietnam, totaling about 20 million USD. In 1994, it provided 14 million USD to support training and employment for Vietnamese workers returning from the Czech Republic; in 1995 and 2008, it provided 2.8 million USD to build and modernize the Orthopedic Center for Disabled Children in Bac Thai (operating since May 1999); and support to modernize the Viet-Czech Hospital in Hai Phong (1.4 million USD), and the Footwear Technical Training Center in Hai Phong (700,000 USD).

The Vietnamese community in Poland currently has about 25,000 people, some overseas Vietnamese in Poland have returned home to invest relatively successfully, especially in the real estate and finance sectors.

The Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic is larger, with approximately 100,000 people. On July 3, 2013, the Czech Government decided to add a representative of Vietnamese Czechs to the Council of Ethnic Minorities, thereby recognizing the existence of Vietnamese Czechs as the 14th ethnic minority in the Czech Republic (the third largest ethnic minority in the Czech Republic, accounting for 1% of the population).

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thu-tuong-pham-minh-chinh-cong-du-chau-au-185250114235047694.htm