Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse, along with the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation, have just successfully concluded their official visits to Poland and the Czech Republic, and attendance at the 55th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, and bilateral activities in Switzerland.

 With a busy schedule of exciting and effective activities, the working trip of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse, along with the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation, contributed to deepening cooperation between Vietnam and the European countries of Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, continuing to write bright new chapters in the history of developing relations between Vietnam and these European countries.

 Not only is it an active step in implementing the foreign policy of the 13th Party Congress on independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, but the trip also fully conveys the message of a peaceful, friendly Vietnam, a friend, a reliable partner and a responsible member of the international community, always ready to closely coordinate with countries to promote multilateral cooperation and global solidarity. Through the trip’s activities, the image of a Vietnam full of courage and steadfastness, entering a new era of national rise has been widely spread to international friends.

Coming to Poland - a European country that, despite its geographical distance, has given Vietnam valuable and sincere support and assistance throughout the fight for national independence and reunification, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had many effective and exciting activities, such as meeting with the President of Poland,holding talks with the Prime Minister of Poland, meeting with the Marshal of the Polish Senate and the Marshal of the Polish Sejm (lower house), attending the Poland-Vietnam Business Forum, and joining the Vietnamese community in Poland in the “Homeland Spring 2025” celebration.

 At the meetings with Polish leaders, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his joy at visiting the beautiful country of Poland, the country of great musicians and scientists. He congratulated Poland on its impressive achievements in socio-economic development and European integration, contributing to enhancing Poland’s role and position in the region.

The two countries' leaders expressed their delight at the positive developments in Vietnam-Poland relations in many fields, making the bilateral relationship deeper, more comprehensive and inclusive today. The two countries have maintained delegation exchanges at all levels, through all channels of the Party, State, Government, National Assembly and people-to-people diplomacy. Economy and trade have become an important highlight in bilateral cooperation, with two-way trade from 2020 to present reaching over 2.5 billion USD, and in 2024 alone reaching over 3 billion USD, making Poland Vietnam’s largest trade partner in the Central Eastern European region. In particular, Vietnam’s decision to waive visa requirements for Polish citizens in 2025 is believed to create momentum to promote tourism and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

An important highlight of the visit to Poland was the two countries’ leaders issuing a Vietnam-Poland Joint Statement on upgrading bilateral relations. The Joint Statement stated: The traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Poland have developed rapidly and effectively in many fields. Building on the achievements and recognising the great potential for further strengthening cooperation, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Prime Minister Donald Tusk emphasised the need for the two sides to promote political, economic, industrial, local cooperation and people-to-people exchanges more extensively and effectively, aiming to upgrade the Vietnam-Poland relationship to a strategic level in the near future.

At the Vietnam-Poland Business Forum, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh encouraged enterprises from both countries to strengthen connectivity, share experiences, identify priority areas where they can complement each other, and contribute to connecting the two economies. He stated that the government would create, guide, establish policy mechanisms, and build trust for business cooperation and development.

Working with Poland’s National Research Institute on Cybersecurity, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasised that global digital transformation, cybersecurity and information security in the digital space have become key factors determining nations’ successful and sustainable development, requiring cooperation and collective efforts from the international community. He clarified that Vietnam highly values and wishes to learn from countries with significant achievements in this field, such as Poland, while also seeking to enhance cooperation to develop joint solutions for global challenges.

During his official visit to Poland, the Vietnamese Prime Minister also visited the University of Warsaw and delivered a policy speech highlighting the goal of elevating Vietnam-Poland relations to a strategic level for peace and development in both Southeast Asian and Central Eastern European regions.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s official visit to the Czech Republic marked an important milestone in bilateral relations. Based on outstanding achievements across all fields over the past 75 years with broad cooperation potential and strong confidence in the promising future of bilateral relations, both leaders issued a joint declaration to upgrade to a strategic partnership.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1950, Vietnam and the Czech Republic have built and developed a strong traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation based on trust, equality, and mutual respect for the benefit of both nations. The new partnership will elevate bilateral relations to a new height, both bilaterally and multilaterally. It will also strengthen and enhance the efficiency of existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms while fostering the formation of new frameworks. Within the Strategic Partnership, Vietnam and the Czech Republic will deepen collaboration in various fields, ensuring practical benefits for the people of both countries and contributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and prosperity in both regions and worldwide.

During his visit, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Czech leaders. He discussed with Czech President Petr Pavel the orientations and measures to deepen and enhance the effectiveness of bilateral relations. Both leaders agreed to strengthen contacts and exchanges at all levels, especially at the high level, to bolster political trust and mutual understanding, aligning with the Strategic Partnership. 

In terms of economic and trade cooperation, both sides agreed to continue fully and effectively implementing the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). They aim to increase bilateral trade turnover to 5 billion USD in the near future and facilitate each other’s goods to have greater access to their respective markets. The Czech Republic also encouraged its enterprises to enhance investment in Vietnam in areas where the Czech Republic has strengths, such as digital transformation, pharmaceuticals, the food industry, manufacturing, and mining.

During a meeting with Czech Senate President Miloš Vystrčil, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his hope that the Czech Senate would support cooperation agreements between the two countries as well as economic cooperation frameworks, encouraging investments in sectors where both sides have strengths. Emphasising the importance of inter-parliamentary cooperation in the broader bilateral relationship, the Prime Minister and Senate President Miloš Vystrčil agreed to enhance delegation exchanges between the two legislatures to share experiences in policymaking and lawmaking.

While receiving the Chairwoman of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) Katerina Konecna, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his gratitude to the Czech government, people, and political parties, particularly the KSCM, for their steadfast support for Vietnam throughout its past struggle for national independence and its ongoing process of national construction and development. He said that the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) wants to foster its traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation with the ruling parties of other countries. He called for increased information and delegation exchanges between the CPV and the KSCM to enhance mutual understanding and political trust, and share experiences in Party building and development. The Vietnamese Government leader also sought the continued support of the KSCM in Vietnam's process of socialist fatherland construction and protection, and in fortifying the traditional friendship between the two nations.

For her part, Konecna pledged to promote stronger friendship and cooperation between the two Parties, helping to deepen and develop the Czech Republic - Vietnam relationship across all fields for the sake of the Vietnamese and Czech people, and peace, cooperation, and development in the regions and the world.

At meetings with leading Czech and European corporations operating and wanting to expand their investment in Vietnam, such as Skoda Auto, Seven Global Investments and PPF Group, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that the Vietnamese Government is committed to creating a favourable, lawful environment for their effective and sustainable business activities in the country.

Czech media published many articles on the outcomes of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to the Czech Republic. The Czech News Agency CTK published an article quoting Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala highlighting the prospects for Czech companies in the petrochemical industry, nuclear energy, medicine, and biotechnology in Vietnam.

Referring to the fact that up to 130 businesses participated in the Vietnam-Czech Republic Business Forum held in Prague, Prime Minister Fiala emphasised the potential for cooperation between the two countries and anticipated the launch of a direct flight route between Hanoi and Prague.

In addition, the agreement on education between the two governments is expected to facilitate the exchange of students and academic researchers, while the agreement on cooperation in pilot training is considered a typical example of substantive cooperation between the two countries. The article affirms that Vietnam is the Czech Republic's most important trade partner in Southeast Asia.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's working days at WEF took place with a tight schedule. This was the first multilateral diplomatic activity of Vietnam’s high-ranking leaders in 2025, thereby continuing to affirm that Vietnam is a reliable partner, an active, responsible and potential member of the international community.

The Prime Minister chaired and attended many dialogues, seminars, and discussions on various fields and issues, such as the Vietnam-WEF national strategic dialogue, the special dialogue between the WEF and the Prime Minister, global trade and development in the smart era, high-tech investment in Vietnam, digital infrastructure and green energy.

The Prime Minister conveyed important messages about Vietnam's determination, aspiration, and vision towards strategic development goals in the next 20 years. Speaking at the Vietnam-WEF national strategy dialogue, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasised that in 2025, Vietnam will continue to prioritise promoting growth associated with maintaining macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation, ensuring major balances of the economy, striving to achieve a growth rate of at least eight per cent this year and reaching double digits in the following years; ready to enter a new era of national development, strong, civilised, prosperous development, with people increasingly well-off and happy. Vietnam has the basis and foundation to achieve the set goals and is increasingly gaining more experience, confidence, courage, and resources to continue developing in the new era.

Speaking at the Special Policy Dialogue, with the theme “Breakthrough toward the Future: Vietnam’s Vision on Innovation and Global Role”, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh conveyed a strong message about Vietnam as an attractive choice for investors thanks to its economic development achievements over 40 years of innovation, its will and determination, and its breakthrough development policies to seize opportunities in the smart era. The Prime Minister’s messages were highly appreciated by the delegates attending. The dialogue’s success contributed to consolidating the role and international position, spreading the country’s great achievements in recent years, as well as Vietnam’s vision and development prospects in the new era of national development.

Listening to the Prime Minister's heartfelt speeches, businesses repeatedly expressed their impression of the Vietnamese Government's determination and commitment to improving the attractive investment environment and its great interest and support for the business community. Businesses have high expectations for the new era of the Vietnamese nation, with remarkable growth in quality and quantity of the economy, saying they will accompany Vietnam in the coming period and identify expanding investment and business in Vietnam as a long-term development strategy.

On this occasion, the Prime Minister also met with leaders of many countries and international organisations, such as Permanent Vice Premier of the State Council of China Ding Xuexiang, Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi and leaders of multinational corporations, to promote relations between Vietnam and countries and international organisations, to attract investment and promote trade.

Alongside attending and participating in activities within the framework of the 55th WEF Meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also engaged in bilateral activities in Switzerland to strengthen political trust and deepen Vietnam-Switzerland relations, aiming to elevate their bilateral ties to a new level.

During talks with Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter, PMPham Minh Chinh emphasised that Vietnam highly values its friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Switzerland. The two leaders acknowledged the positive developments in Vietnam-Switzerland relations, particularly in politics, diplomacy, trade, investment, development cooperation, science, technology, education, and training. 

With the solid foundation of their longstanding friendship and shared vision, the two leaders agreed that the current period is an opportune time to elevate Vietnam-Switzerland relations to a Comprehensive Partnership. This partnership will be guided by key principles and strategic orientations to create breakthroughs, fostering deeper, more comprehensive, and substantive bilateral ties as well as cooperation at regional and global levels.

Sharing a mutual understanding of the central role of economic cooperation in bilateral relations, the two leaders emphasised the potential for enhancing economic cooperation and exploring new opportunities to effectively leverage the complementary strengths of the two economies. Both sides agreed to intensify efforts and take concrete steps to expedite the conclusion of negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

The two leaders expressed confidence in the future of Vietnam-Switzerland relations and reaffirmed their determination to work more closely together to advance the shared interests of both nations.

PM Pham Minh Chinh’s official visit to the Republic of Poland and the Czech Republic, participation in the 55th Annual Meeting of the WEF in Davos, Switzerland, and bilateral engagements in Switzerland reflect Vietnam's consistent policy of valuing and striving to strengthen political trust and deepen relations with Poland, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland. These efforts aim to make the partnerships more substantial, practical, and effective in line with the new context while affirming Vietnam's growing international role, position, and reputation.

The successful visit has conveyed a strong message of Vietnam's determination and aspiration to enter a new era of development—an era of the nation’s rise.