Prime Minister Babiš and Deputy Prime Minister Havlíček discussed cooperation in science and research in Dresden

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš attended the European Forum for Science, Research and Innovation in Dresden on 24 and 25 June 2019. During his visit to Dresden he also met with the Prime Minister of the Free State of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer, and the President of the German Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble, and met several innovative and start-up companies. The Prime Minister was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček.

The European Forum for Science, Research and Innovation is a platform for exchanging information and experiences from Saxony, the Czech Republic and Poland. In addition to the academic and scientific community, the event was also attended by the President of the Polish Government, Mateusz Morawiecki and the President of the European Research Council, Jean-Pierre Bourguignon.

“I promised the President of the German Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble, that we would be attending the conference at the highest level, and I am glad we did. We are definitely continuing our project Czech Republic: Country for the future, and science and research are among our priorities”, said Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who also presented the government’s plan to become one of Europe’s innovation leaders by 2030, and also appreciated the importance of scientific and research cooperation between the Czech Republic, Poland and Saxony. “There are many scientists from all over the region, and of course from universities. It is a good thing that we are active in this forum and that we have already declared by our participation that it is important to us”, the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Havlíček also visited the Fraunhofer Institute for Instruments and Steel Structures. The Institute focuses on innovation and applied research in the field of laser technology and surface treatment. “It is today the largest institution in Europe. Only in Germany they have 72 branches, their sales are 2.6 billion euros. Of course we have seen their specific applied research, mainly laser technology – welding, cutting. They work with companies such as Boeing, Airbus or the high-speed train manufacturer ICE, and use state-of-the-art technology”, said Prime Minister Babiš.

The representatives of the Czech government also visited the factory of the Volkswagen Transparent Factory, which, among other things, houses the Centre of Future Mobility – a development centre for electric vehicles. It is interesting that the factory is commonly open to the public and visitors can see the production of the E-Golf or visit the interactive world of electromobility and digitization.

“I am very interested in this also in the context of climate targets. For example, we have long discussed batteries, which weigh the most in the car”, said the Prime Minister, adding that the manufacturer will for now be importing batteries from China. He said that development of electromobility and the real importance of electric cars for emission reduction is currently a very hot issue within the European Union.

The Czech delegation also visited the Centre for Regenerative Therapies of the Technical University of Dresden, which examines the principles of cell and tissue regeneration and their use in diagnosis and therapy, and Onco Ray, a proton centre of the Charles Gustav Carus University Hospital, which is a research centre for oncology, biology and technology development. They also became familiar with the functioning of the Saxony’s futureSAX innovation platform, which aims to support start-ups and emerging innovative businesses.

At the meeting with Prime Minister of Saxony Michael Kretschmer, Prime Minister Babiš spoke about deepening cooperation between the Czech Republic and Saxony. “I have known Prime Minister Kretschmer for a long time, we have been visiting each other, he also plans to come to Prague again. We are looking for possibilities of concrete cooperation, it is very important for us”, said Andrej Babiš.

According to the Prime Minister, the visit to Dresden was very beneficial. “Of course, we have established valuable contacts here. We also have some ideas on how to coordinate mutual cooperation”, he said. For example, in October, a conference on artificial intelligence should be held in Prague on the basis of cooperation between the Czech Republic, Poland and Saxony. “For us, however, the most important thing is to win the EU Centre for Artificial Intelligence for Prague. The EU wants to support only four centres and we have a great chance because we are the only ones in the region. We have 500 AI scientists in the Czech Republic. It is the future of our economy, our industry, and we declare and promote it everywhere. And I think we have won allies here, too”, the Prime Minister said.