The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) recently coordinated with the Czech Republic Federation of Industry and Transport and the Czech Republic Embassy in Vietnam to organise the Vietnam - Czech Republic Business Forum in Hanoi. This offered a great opportunity for the two countries to develop trade and investment ties.
The forum came after the working visit of Czech Republic Minister of Industry and Trade, Martin Kocourek, to Vietnam.
He said Vietnam has to date invested in just four projects in the Czech Republic, focusing on real estate and construction material fields. Czech Republic is looking to forge cooperation with Vietnam in industrial machinery, medical equipment, services and others.
Mr Pavel Kafka, a representative from the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, said the Czech Republic now has 21 investment projects in Vietnam, mainly concentrating on glass, kaolin, electronics and electric transformers. He said the Czech Republic is looking for cooperation in energy, food industry, construction and other fields in Vietnam. This is a good opportunity to increase employment opportunities for Vietnamese workers and balance two-way payments.
According to Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Ho Thi Kim Thoa, economic and commercial ties between Vietnam and the Czech Republic have made good progress in the past years. In the first three months of 2010, the Czech Republic earned US$27 million from exports to Vietnam while Vietnam raked in US$71 million from its shipments to the European nation. The Czech Republic mainly exports machinery and equipment to Vietnam while it imports agricultural products, seafood, footwear, apparels and computer components from the Southeast Asian country. However, Thoa said, the trade turnover was well below real potentials and expectations of the both sides.
She added that up to 20,000 Vietnamese-run companies are now operating in the Czech Republic. Though Vietnam imports a significant volume of goods from the Czech Republic, procedures are being made through German intermediaries. As the two countries lack information about each other, the bilateral trade turnover remains modest, Ms Thoa explained.
Forty Czech companies attended the forum and sought for partners operating in such fields as designing and manufacturing of pressure piping systems, waste gas pipes, PP and PVC plastic pipes; mining; metalworking, hydrothermal electricity, nuclear power and construction. Companies from the two sides met and discussed cooperation opportunities. At the forum, the Vietnam National Coal, Mineral Industries Holding Corporation Limited (Vinacomin) and INCO Design Company of Czech Republic signed cooperation agreement.
H.H
Vietnamese
