A business forum organised by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry yesterday in Ha Noi. — VNA/VNS Photo Tuan Anh

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The Intergovermental Committee of Viet Nam and the Czech Republic would work to create more favourable conditions for bilateral trade, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai said yesterday.

Hai was speaking at a reception for the Czech Minister of Industry and Trade, Jan Mladek, who was attending the fourth meeting of the committee in Ha Noi.

Hai said he was pleased about the results of the session, which decided on specific areas for co-operation, such as in minerals exploration, machinery and engineering, the environment, energy and clean water.

He thanked the Czech government for providing official development assistance (ODA) to Viet Nam in the past, as well as for recognising the Vietnamese community in the republic.

Mladek said Viet Nam was an important trading partner for the Czechs. This was why a 25-member business delegation from Czech was accompanying him to study the market and seek partners.

He said the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade would actively work on the signed agreements.

Accelerating

There were untapped opportunities for cooperation between business communities in Viet Nam and the Czech Republic, Jan Mladek told a business conference in Ha Noi yesterday.

Viet Nam was a dynamic economy and had vast potential in trade and investment. Therefore, Czech companies wanted to accelerate co-operation with Vietnamese firms in several sectors, particularly in infrastructure development, industry, heath-care and tourism, he added.

Despite encouraging results in the past few years, bilateral relations, especially in trade and investment, have failed to match the potential of the two countries, he said, adding that the Czech Government would have support mechanisms to foster cooperation between the two business communities.

Viet Nam really needed investment from Czech enterprises in infrastructure, energy, agriculture processing and market development, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa said.

In terms of trade, the Czech Republic was also a promising market-cum-effective gateway for Vietnamese goods to penetrate deep into large EU countries.

In her speech at the forum, the Deputy Minister described the event as a valuable chance for businesses to meet and seek new opportunities and open a new page for the economic ties between both nations.

Viet Nam was recently named one of the 12 priority markets in the Czech Republic's foreign trade policy from 2011 to 2015.

It is expected that a trade promotion centre will be opened in Prague by early 2015 with the aim of promoting Vietnamese commodities in the European markets.

The centre will be set up by the associations of small- and medium-sized Vietnamese businesses in the Czech Republic and the association of Czech SMEs and retailers.

It will be further expanded with the aim of becoming a representative of Viet Nam in the Czech market in particular and Europe in general, by 2017. — VNS