Prague (VNA) – The Vietnamese Embassy in the Czech Republic on August 28 held a ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Vietnam’s August Revolution and National Day (September 2), as well as the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Duong Hoai Nam stressed that this was an occasion to look back on Vietnam’s eight-decade journey of struggle for independence, nation-building, and development, while also reaffirming the strong and enduring ties between the two nations.

He highlighted Vietnam’s outstanding achievements during nearly 40 years of Doi Moi (Renewal), including sustaining rapid and stable growth, expanding trade relations with over 220 partners, cooperating with 500 international organisations, and signing 17 free trade agreements – notably the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

The ambassador noted that bilateral trade had increased tenfold within a decade, reaching a record 3.8 billion USD in 2024, with Vietnam and the Czech Republic officially upgrading their relations to a strategic partnership in 2025. Vietnam is now the Czech Republic’s largest trading partner in ASEAN. Beyond trade, cooperation is also expanding strongly in areas such as education and training, defence industry, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, labour, culture, tourism, and climate change response, he added.

The diplomat expressed his hope that a direct Hanoi–Prague air route would soon be launched, seeing it as a major opportunity to boost trade, tourism exchanges, and people-to-people connectivity.

For his part, Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavský affirmed that Vietnam has always been an important partner in the Czech Republic’s Asia-Pacific policy. He highly valued the robust development of bilateral ties across trade, investment, education, culture, and science-technology.

The minister also underlined the role of the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic – currently the country’s fourth-largest minority group, describing them as “cultural ambassadors” who contribute to strengthening friendship and mutual understanding between the two peoples.

Czech Ambassador to Vietnam Hynek Kmoníček expressed optimism about the future of bilateral relations. He shared his pride in knowing SKODA cars manufactured in Vietnam and Vietnamese pilots flying Czech-made L-39 aircraft over Hanoi during the National Day celebrations on September 2. He voiced confidence that the direct Hanoi–Prague flight would soon be established, enabling both sides to maximise visa-free entry policies and further bring their peoples closer together.

༺ The ceremony featured traditional Vietnamese cultural performances and authentic cuisine such as nem ran (fried spring rolls), banh cuon (steamed rice rolls), and xoi xeo (mung bean sticky rice)./.