Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh presides over the welcoming ceremony for Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala. Photo: VOV

After the official welcome ceremony on Friday in Hanoi, Prime Minister Chinh held talks with his Czech counterpart Petr Fiala, who said the Czech Republic considers Vietnam the most important partner in Southeast Asia and wishes to develop cooperative relations with Vietnam in all fields.

The two Prime Ministers exchanged views on the socio-economic development situation of each country. They agreed to set a target of 1 billion USD trade turnover in the next one to two years from 848 million USD recorded last year by continuing to fully and effectively implement the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

Prime Minister Chinh asked the Czech Republic to continue to have a voice to push other EU countries to soon ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

Prime Minister Fiala said Vietnam is a potential economic partner, and more Czech companies are interested in expanding their investment and business in Vietnam.

He voiced his support for strengthening cooperation between the EU and Vietnam on fisheries sustainable development and the European Commission (EC) soon removing the yellow card imposed on Vietnam's seafood exports for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities.

The two Prime Ministers also had extensive exchanges on regional and global issues of mutual concern and witnessed the signing of cooperation documents on mutual legal assistance in criminal, investment and education matters.