Vietnam to boost trade with Czech Republic

Organized by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Chamber of Commerce of the Czech Republic and the Embassy of the Czech Republic, the forum is expected to further boost trade and investment between the two countries.

Two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Czech Republic just reached 294 million USD in 2014. Vietnam’s export value to Czech Republic was over 218 million USD, while the Czech Republic exported goods valued at only 75 million USD. The Czech Republic expects to narrow the gap of trade between the two sides by increasing exports of goods and services to Vietnam, especially in the technology.

"The Czech Republic is ranked second in the EU in terms of industry as a proportion of GDP, we developed industry from 1939 and 1940. We can bring our experience in energy and traffic infrastructure to support Vietnam." - Milan Stech, President, Czech Senate.

Vietnam is also likely to attract Czech food and medical companies as many want to find strategic partners or distributors for further expansion in Vietnam.

"We’re looking for advanced Czech technologies which will assist us in processing star anise in accordance with European standards. We hope to export our products to Czech Republic." - Luong Dang Ninh, President, Standards and Consumer Rights Protection Association, Lang Son Province.

"Among businesses here, we’re concentrating on two companies that Vietnamese enterprises have a great opportunity to co-operate with. They currently operate in transport and support industries." - Tran Lam Thao, Representative, Vietnam Golden Mark Logistics & Trading Co., Ltd.

At the conference, Czech firms also showed interest in attracting Vietnamese companies to invest in the Czech Republic. The Czech Parliament has also approved the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the European Union.