Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Lukas Kaucky
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The Deputy Minister affirmed the Czech government endorse and will soon approve the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement, which is a basis for promoting the trade and economic ties between the two countries. He also informed that t he Czech government is considering relaxing procedures of granting short-term and long-term visa for Vietnamese citizens who enter Czech for tourism, study, work and visiting relatives.
A number of major Czech companies made fact-finding tours to Vietnam on the occasion of his visit to the country to seek cooperation opportunities with Vietnamese partners, he noted. He proposed tightening future cooperation across fields between the two nations, especially in the economy, trade and defence and in areas of his country’s strength.
The two sides should increase people-to-people exchange towards strengthening mutual understanding between the two peoples, he stressed. Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son thanked the Czech government for creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in the country to have a stable life.
The two sides expressed their pleasure at frequent exchanges of high-ranking delegations and the effective operation of cooperation mechanisms like consultation between ministries and the inter-governmental committee.
They noted that the bilateral trade and economic ties are still below potential and expectations despite recent expansion, urging more measures to help enterprises of the two countries connect in fields like infrastructure, renewable energy, agricultural engineering, electric equipment, and food processing. The two sides appreciated the cooperation of the two foreign ministries, including the maintenance of political consultation mechanism and coordination of viewpoints in important international issues.
In concerning to East Sea issue, they shared the support for the settlement of disputes, including disputes in the East Sea, by peaceful measures based on international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the need to ensure regional maritime and aviation security and safety.
Deputy Foreign Minister Lukas Kaucky asserted to support Vietnam’s stance on handling the disputes by peaceful measures and on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS) and fully respecting diplomatic and legal procedures. He appealed the two countries to exactly and fully realise the joint perceptions and agreements in the spirit of “words going well with deeds” and seriously follow the agreement on the basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related matters and the DOC, towards reaching the COC. He also called for joint efforts to soundly address issues concerning fisheries and operations of fishermen, take no actions that complicate and broaden the disputes, not use or threaten to use force and not militarise in the sea.
