Ministry of Industry and Trade, Mr Martin Kuba had Many Meetings in London and Greeted Czech Athletes in Olympic Village

He took part in the opening of the Czech House, met the member fo the lords, Mr David Howell, chairman of the Czech-British chamber of commerce, Mr Ladislav Hornan, Turkish minister of energy, Mr Taner Yildiz and many others.

Minister Kuba travelled to London along with the Czech President, Mr Václav Klaus. In company with the head of state he also attended the first official event in the British Isles, which was the Gala Opening of the Czech House in the building of the renowned Business Design Centre in the Islington district under the presence of the Czech Ambassador to the UK, Mr Michael Žantovský and President of the Czech Olympic Committee, Mr Milan Jirásek.

The Czech House, which was built also with the participation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, include the background for Czech entrepreneurs suitable for meetings with business partners as well as the official presentation of the Czech industrial design named the Creative Industry that has been seen also by the legendary Czech hockey player Jaromir Jágr.

"The Olympic Games are a good product to the marketing presentation. That is why I wanted to take this opportunity, and as well as our athletes, to stand up for the name of the Czech Republic and show Czech companies in their best side to British and foreign visitors of the Czech Olympic House,“ said Minister Kuba.

This was followed by the meeting of Mr Kuba with the President of the Czech-British Chamber of Commerce based in London, Mr Ladislav Hornan with whom he agreed on specific steps, by which the MIT will support the Chamber´s activities aimed at facilitating the entry and business development of Czech exporters and investors in the UK market. In the evening, the Minister attended the opening ceremony of XXX. Olympic Games.

The next day, Mr Kuba met his Turkish counterpart, Minister of Energy Mr Taner Yildiz, with whom he agreed that during the November meeting of the Czech-Turkish Joint Commission a strategic partnership between these two countries in energy sector will be declared.

"This partnership reflects the rapidly growing energy needs of the Turkey's economy and ability of Czech companies to help meet those needs by virtue of Czech technologies. In Turkey, our company operates not only as subcontractors, but also as the main suppliers and consortia leaders able to deliver complete turnkey installations," said Czech minister.

On Sunday Mr Kuba also visited Czech athletes in the Olympic Village, where he met for example with badmintonist Mr Peter Koukal, Czech production team and Czech physicians.  

"I was in London not only to meet with successful Czech companies doing business in the UK, but also to express my support for our leading sportsmen who worked hard to get to the Olympics. Therefore I can only wish them to achieve the highest possible bases”he said.

Afterwards Mr Kuba met representatives of the export promotion agency CzechTrade and its business partners operating in the UK. One of great attractions of this meeting was Mrs Milena Grenfell-Baines, a Czech living in the islands for decades, belonging among the children of Nicholas Winton, who helped bring fame to the Remoska, a Czech legendary electric baking dish in the UK.

The Minister's program in London on Monday started with a conversation with Mrs Monique Meche, Vice President for government relations of the global metallurgical giant Arcelor Mittal, which employs 260,000 people worldwide and eight thousand people in the CR. Mr Kuba was interested to learn views of this influential global company on business environment in the CR and in response to information about the high cost of energy compared with other EU Member States he informed about the basic intentions of the upcoming update of the national energy policy.

"I assured Mrs Monique Meche that I was very perceptive to her comments on the technical education in the CR and steps, which I am going to take in this area after consulting with business representations and in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Finance,” said the Czech minister.

A supreme act of the working visit of the Minister Kuba in London was meeting with the State Minister and Member of the House of Lords, David Howell, responsible for international energy policy and energy security issues, with whom he exchanged views on current issues of the EU energy policy.

“Our discussions confirmed that we have very similar views with the UK on how the single energy market should look like and how the access to the various energy sources should be ensured. With Lord Howell we accorded on the view that companies doing business in this sector need a predictable environment to ensure their returns of investments. By contrast, consumers from companies and households expect from manufacturers and suppliers stable supplies under affordable prices” said the Minister of Industry and Trade.

Mr Kuba finished his working visit to London by a speech at the seminar of the Czech government agency CzechInvest, which focused primarily on mergers and acquisitions. Minister of Trade and Industry presented British partners investment opportunities in the CR and some interesting projects that can be used in the UK. Even though, according to the UN survey, there is a decrease of global mergers and acquisitions, interest in the Czech Republic is growing.

“Investors appreciate an economically responsible policy of the government, sufficiency of qualified workforce, and what is also positive, the Czech Republic not only offers cost-effective operations, but also a creative environment and corresponding pro-business approach,” said Mr Kuba during the seminar, on which it was said that companies often perceive the Czech Republic as a gateway to Europe.

The value of mergers and acquisitions alone in the Czech market increased by 29 per cent to $ 4.2 billion in 2011, and the most of corporate mergers took place between the Czech entities - 60 per cent compared to less than 50 per cent in 2010. From abroad, most buyers came from USA, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Finland and UK.

For more information please contact the CzechInvest Press Centre

Štěpánka Filipová, spokesperson, phone: +420 296 342 538, stepanka.filipova@czechinvest.org

Contact to Ministry of Industry and Trade:

Veronika Forejtová, spokesperson , phone: +420 224 853 291, forejtova@mpo.cz

CzechInvest is celebrating its 20th anniversary!

CzechInvest has been supporting the inflow of foreign direct investments to the Czech Republic for twenty years already. Since its establishment in 1992, the agency has mediated 1,798 investment projects with the total value of more than CZK 715 billion, thanks to which nearly a quarter of a million new jobs have been created. CzechInvest contributes to improving the overall business environment in the Czech Republic and strives to increase the competitiveness of the Czech economy in changing conditions. Since 2004, the agency has also operated as the implementation body for EU structural funds and has regional offices staffed by specialists in every regional capital in the Czech Republic. CzechInvest’s CEO, Miroslav Křížek, was named Manager of the Year 2011 in the Business and Public Services sector.