Taipei, Oct. 26 (CNA) A Taiwan trade delegation held talks with government officials in the Czech Republic Monday in a bid to gain support for a bilateral investment agreement with the EU.

The delegation made its way to Prague from neighboring Slovakia and is set to make a final stop in Lithuania during a tour aimed at strengthening bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation.

The second leg of the trip saw Taiwan's Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Chern-chyi and the Czech Republic's Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Martina Tauberová co-host an economic consultation meeting in Prague on Monday, according to a press release from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Chen said in his opening remarks that there was plenty of room for the two countries to expand and deepen cooperation in the areas of trade, investment and business.

As the Czech Republic will hold the EU Council's rotating presidency in the second half of 2022, Chen also called for the country to exert its influence to help Taiwan establish a bilateral investment agreement with the EU by taking a pragmatic and flexible approach.

He also asked for Prague's help in bringing about official negotiations on related issues and to facilitate the establishment of a Taiwan-EU agreement, as well as strengthen bilateral investment and industry ties.

Tauberová said during the meeting that most bilateral economic and trade discussions and exchanges between the two countries over the past one year had been moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a post-pandemic era, the Czech Republic will work to strengthen its economic resilience and enhance its business competitiveness, while coping with the challenges for business transformation and carbon reductions, she added.

Noting that Taiwan and the Czech Republic are like-minded partners, Tauberová said that she hopes the two countries will deepen cooperation in the electronics, electrical machinery, space, nanotechnology industries, as well as move toward the EU's goals of achieving digitalization and becoming the world's first "climate-neutral bloc" by 2050.

In addition, Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Czech Republic's government, and chambers of commerce representatives from the two countries also held a business matchmaking event on Monday that included 179 trade talks for 57 Taiwanese businesses and 119 Czech firms.

According to official statistics, two-way trade between the two countries hit a 10-year high of US$890 million in 2020.