PHOTO: VNA. Vietnamese Ambassador to the Czech Republic Ho Minh Tuan (center) and President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce Vladimir Dlouhy (second from left)
On Wednesday, July 17th, Ho Minh Tuan, the Vietnamese Ambassador to the Czech Republic and Vladmir Dlouhy, the President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce (CCC) discussed measures to boost bilateral cooperation in economics, trade and investment after the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) was signed on June 30th.
Ambassador Tuan said, “Once the EVFTA will take effect, it will facilitate the development of trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and the EU, including the Czech Republic.”
The agreement will help the Central European country to intensify the export of its strong commodities to Vietnam to improve the trade balance, he stated.
He expressed his hope that Dlouhy, as the CCC President, will represent the Czech business to canvass his country’s Parliament and Czech parliamentarians at the European Parliament to soon ratify the EVFTA and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement.
In response, Dlouhy told the Vietnamese diplomat, “The fields of the Czech Republic wants to foster collaboration with Vietnam including automobile manufacturing, food industry, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, electronic equipment and tourism.”
The CCC is willing to cooperate with the Vietnamese embassy to hold seminars and forums related to trade and investment to help Czech enterprises understand more about the Vietnamese market, its policies and cooperation opportunities, he affirmed.
Statistics from the CCC show that last year, two-way trade reached nearly $1.2 billion, in which Vietnam enjoyed a trade surplus of over $900 million. Vietnam mainly exports electronic equipment, footwear and leather products, rubber, seafood and farm produce to the Czech Republic, while importing energy equipment, boilers, mechanical tools and glass products.
Vietnam and the Czech Republic will celebrate the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic ties in 2020.
https://en.nhandan.org.vn/politics/item/7706602-vietnam-czech-republic-seek-ways-to-enhance-trade-ties.html
PHOTO: MFA. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
60 observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, including 42 parliamentarians from 20 countries, are being deployed to Ukraine this week for the 21 July parliamentary elections. Finnish parliamentarian Ilkka Kanerva will serve as Special Co-ordinator and leader of the short-term OSCE observer mission, following an appointment by the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak.
OSCE PA President George Tsereteli has appointed French parliamentarian Sereine Mauborgne to serve as Head of the OSCE PA’s observer mission.
“Following an important presidential election earlier this year, Ukraine has another opportunity with these parliamentary elections to demonstrate its commitment to democratic development and reform,” said Kanerva. “I hope to continue our good co-operation with Ukrainian authorities and to observe a dynamic, competitive election.”
Kanerva has led a number of observer missions in the past, including to the first round of last spring’s presidential election in Ukraine. As Special Co-ordinator, Kanerva will deliver the joint statement of preliminary findings and conclusions at a press conference in Kyiv on 22 July.
“These parliamentary elections are important not only for Ukraine but also for the whole of the OSCE region,” said Mauborgne. “I hope to see peaceful and competitive elections that ultimately help deliver stability, security and progress for the Ukrainian people.”
An experienced election observer, Mauborgne recently led the OSCE PA’s delegation of observers for the 21 April presidential election in North Macedonia.
For the 21 July Ukrainian elections, the OSCE PA will work closely with observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and the European Parliament.
On 3 July, Kanerva expressed regret that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is not able to observe these elections following recent developments.
This is the 16th time that the PA has observed electoral processes in Ukraine since 1994.
https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/osce-pa-observers-arriving-ukraine-week-parliamentary-elections
BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr |
