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Interministerial Consultations with Myanmar led by Deputy Foreign Minister Tlapa

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Martin Tlapa met with Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar U Soe Han on March 3, 2020. The main topics of this  round of regular consultations were the strengthening of bilateral relations with an emphasis on economic and development cooperation and exchange of views on current developments in both countries and on regional issues.

At the beginning of the meeting, Deputy Minister Tlapa summarized the most important moments of mutual relations, which included the visit of the Myanmar State Counsellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Aung San Suu Kyi  to Prague in June 2019, reopening of the Myanmar Embassy in Prague during her stay and the Czech Senate delegation visit to Myanmar which took place in February 2020.

The Deputy Minister Tlapa appreciated the inclusion of the Czech Republic among the countries whose citizens can obtain Myanmar visas on arrival starting from January 2020 and informed about the planned opening of the visa section at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Yangon in the third quarter of 2020. He encouraged the growing volume of mutual trade that achieved a value of 116 million USD last year. Czech exports increased by 51%, imports from Myanmar by 44%. Both sides identified agriculture, health and energy as promising fields of cooperation. These opportunities should be discussed in more detail during the forthcoming meeting of the Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation in Nay Pyi Taw, which is scheduled for May 2020.

The Permanent Secretary thanked the Czech Republic for the support of the transformation process in Myanmar and recalled the warm friendship between the former President V. Havel and the State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, although they had never met in person. During the discussion he also touched the ongoing peace process in Myanmar and the complex development in Rakhine State. The Permanent Secretary described education as an important part of mutual relations and appreciated the opportunities offered by Czech universities to Myanmar students. At present, approximately 20 students from Myanmar are studying in the Czech Republic.