(VOVworld) – Vietnamese-Czech relations have improved steadily over the past 65 years, said Vietnam’s Ambassador to the Czech Republic Truong Manh Son in an interview with VOV on the occasion of the 65^th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (L) and Czech Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek at the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding on co-operation between the two ministries on July 24, 2014.

Ambassador Son said the two sides have agreed to organize a Vietnam Cultural Year in the Czech Republic to mark the anniversary. He said: “One of the highlights of the Vietnamese-Czech relationship is trade co-operation. The Czech Republic considers Vietnam one of its twelve leading trade partners. The Czech Republic is an important partner of Vietnam and a gateway to the EU markets. The two countries have in turn held several biennial inter-governmental meetings to implement trade programs.”
In 2013 the Czech Republic recognized its Vietnamese community of 60,000 people as its 14^th ethnic minority group. Bilateral trade reached 670 million USD in 2014, up 20% from the previous year.