The Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala concluded his official sub-Saharan Africa tour in Ivory Coast, where he supported the transport industry

The Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala concluded his successful week-long tour to sub-Saharan Africa on 10 November in Ivory Coast. In Abidjan, he met his counterpart, Prime Minister Robert Beugré Mambé and other members of the Ivorian government, followed by Vice President Tiemoko Meyliet Koné. During the one-day programme, he supported Czech entrepreneurs at a business forum and also visited the Treichville Hospital, which is equipped with Czech medical equipment.

"The countries we visited have been carefully selected to take advantage of the potential of Czech companies to establish new contacts or deepen existing relationships. We have focused on countries that strive for stability, peace and that intend to develop their economies and strive to create a stable business environment,“ said the Prime Minister and added that hundreds of entrepreneurs participated in the business forums at the individual stops and in each of the countries visited, supplies and contracts worth billions of crowns were discussed.

"Africa as a continent will become the most populous by the middle of our century. It is the continent of the future and I think it is high time for us to establish our presence here, to establish contacts and we should do so right now, before it is too late. It cannot be done without political support, it is a continent where the political support opens the door to business, and this is the reason why this tour is so important. We must not forget that these countries also need development cooperation, that we must concentrate on projects that help to improve the quality of life in these countries. That is why there is so much interest in defence and security, health care and agriculture,“ said the Czech Prime Minister said at the end of his trip. 

Ivory Coast has been an important partner of the Czech Republic in Francophone Africa, a base for stability and development in the West African region and the fastest growing economy on the African continent. During the bilateral meeting with his counterpart Robert Beugré Mambé, Prime Minister Petr Fiala discussed the development of economic cooperation, cooperation in the health sector and support for Czech companies in Côte d'Ivoire.

"In Abidjan, we managed to significantly support the transport industry in particular. I believe that, in the near future, urban public transportation could be provided by IVECO buses of Czech manufacture right here in the city. We have taken some steps to bring this contract to completion. There is a huge interest in cooperation in health care, agriculture and, as it turned out, also in security and in the defence industry," said Prime Minister Petr Fiala and added that the signing of the Double Taxation Treaty, which the Ivorian government is ready to sign at the earliest possible date, will also help strengthen the economic cooperation between the countries.

As in all the countries that Petr Fiala visited during his official tour to Africa, he attended a business forum in Abidjan, where he supported Czech companies interested in establishing or deepening business cooperation with Ivory Coast. A memorandum between the Confederation of Industry and Transport and the Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire was also signed at the forum.

In addition to Ivory Coast, the Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala visited three other countries - Ethiopia, Kenya and Ghana during his week-long tour to sub-Saharan Africa. It was the longest official tour of a top Czech official to this region. He met superior representatives of all countries and discussed the deepening of mutual cooperation with them, in particular in the fields of trade, defence cooperation, transport, agriculture and health care.