Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn and Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavský had phone talks on Friday. — Photo from the Ministry

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese foreign minister Bùi Thanh Sơn held phone talks with his Czech counterpart Jan Lipavský on Friday, during which he underlined that Việt Nam always seeks to promote its relationships and traditional friendships, including with the Czech Republic – one of the country's priority partners in Central Eastern Europe.

Vietnamese foreign minister Sơn thanked the Czech Republic for providing 250,800 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to Việt Nam, helping the country fight the pandemic.

The two ministers value positive progress in the relations between the two countries over the years through the regular exchange of delegations at all levels.

They shared delight at the close and effective coordination between the two ministries at multilateral forums. They agreed to continue strengthening cooperation and mutual support at international and regional organisations.

Lipavský said that the Czech Republic considered Việt Nam one of the Asia-Pacific region's prioritised economic, trade and investment partners.

The two foreign ministers showed pleasure in the outcomes of the bilateral economic partnership. They agreed on the need to bolster the substantial and effective collaboration in areas of both sides' strengths and demands while encouraging and creating favourable conditions for joint projects, optimising the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement.

Both sides should effectively implement the results of the seventh meeting of the Việt Nam-Czech Republic Inter-Governmental Committee on Economic Cooperation that was held in Prague in June, they said.

Lipavský affirmed that the Czech Government backs promoting ties between Việt Nam and the EU.

As the rotating chair of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2022, the Czech Republic will hasten EU agencies to consider Việt Nam's proposal on the removal of the "yellow card" from the Vietnamese fisheries sector, and EU member countries to soon ratify the EU-Việt Nam Investment Protection Agreement.

Foreign minister Sơn thanked the Government and the foreign ministry of the Czech Republic for creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to settle down in the European country, contributing to strengthening the traditional friendship between the two countries.

The Czech diplomat hailed the role of the Vietnamese community in his country, especially their contributions to COVID prevention and control.

Minister Sơn took the occasion to invite Lipavský to visit Việt Nam at an appropriate time. — VNS