CZECH CROWN

The weakened value of the Czech Crown and the attempts to reshuffle the existing cabinet - those are the two items making headlines in the Czech media. In the following report, Peter Casper will take a look at both issues.

On Thursday, the Czech Crown continued to drop and after it dropped by six percent, the central bank had to move in to the rescue. The fact is that the Crown has been under great pressure for more than a week now - long enough to make some investors nervous. The central bank made it possible to stop the downfall and the currency stood at about 4.0 percent under parity on Thursday afternoon. In reaction to the developments, the bank intervened and decided to limit non- residents' access to the Czech money market.

Both the government and the central bank have ruled out the devaluation which some analysts now say is inevitable. For many Czechs this was a signal to take banks by storm and exchange Crowns for US dollars, German Marks and other more stable currencies. Bank tellers complained on TV news that in recent days foreign currency has been selling like hot cakes and their supplies are always gone in a matter of hours. Unlike many of his fellow citizens, President Vaclav Havel demonstrated his faith in the currency by assuring that he will keep his money on a Crown account. The President would consider it without reason to use a foreign currency account and he made that publicly known on Thursday in an interview following his meeting with the three coalition leaders. The talks convinced President Havel that recent developments in the Czech Republic should not be referred to as a crisis. The political situation is a little tense but that happens now and then in democracies. I received with satisfaction the news that coalition partners have the will to cooperate and to govern. It is in the best interest of this country that this coalition will proceed with its work, concluded Vaclav Havel.

But as satisfied as he was, even the President knows that there is still one thing missing on the agenda - the new image of the ruling cabinet. The three coalition leaders added to speculations in this field when they attended the previously cancelled Friday morning breakfast. Among the items served were coffee, tea and political problems - but apparently no agreement. Following the meeting, Josef Lux of the People's Party however claimed that progress was made and separate talks over the weekend are bound to bring positive results. Premier Klaus agreed that cabinet changes were called for amidst the slumping approval ratings and an economic downturn. As for who will go, that is still left to speculation. The names of Finance Minister Kocarnik and Minister of Trade and Industry Dlouhy are the hottest candidates for cabinet retirement. But the names of their succesors are even more of a mystery.

VIETNAMESE PRIME MINISTER'S VISIT IN PRAGUE

Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet has held talks in the Czech Republic in what was heralded by both sides as a sign of impending expansion in bilateral economic reaction. Libor Kubik reports:

President Vaclav Havel, who met Premier Vo on Thursday, had words of praise for Vietnam's progress towards freedom, and for the aid Hanoi is granting to returnees. Havel said that it was good to see a stable Vietnam opening to the world after many decades of hardships and isolation caused by war.

Activists from the opposition Viet Nam Renewal Party -- there are many of them living and working in the Czech Republic -- were planning public protests on Friday to highlight what they say is the problem of political prisoners in the Hanoi regime's jails and labour camps.

Czech Radio's home service said that the economic significance became clear during the Premier's meeting with Havel. Observers also note that Premier Vo Van Kiet's visit was the first to the Czech Republic by a senior Vietnamese politicians for more than 20 years.

As you have heard in the news, Vo Van Kiet was due on Friday to meet his Czech opposite number Vaclav Klaus and Foreign Minister Josef Zieleniec. During the visit, the two sides were due to sign an agreement designed to avoid double taxation and another treaty on civil aviation. Vo van Kiet is being accompanied by a delegation of Vietnamese businessmen.

The German news agency DPA reports from Prague that the previous lively economic interplay between Prague and Hanoi tailed off considerably after the onset of democracy in 1989 in what was then Czechoslovakia. In recent years bilateral trade was worth about 30 million dollars, an upturn of 10 percent on 1995. The agency said that experts from both countries see potential for further intensifying economic links.

However, human rights activists in the Czech Republic, as well as many Vietnamese expatriates here, remain concerned about Hanoi's record in this field.