Prime Minister Fiala held talks with his South Korean counterpart Han Duck-soo on investment support and nuclear energy development

On Tuesday, 12 September, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Petr Fiala, received the Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea, Mr Han Duck-soo, at the Straka Academy. The meeting focused on the promotion of mutual trade and investment, cooperation in the construction of high-speed lines, the development of nuclear energy and cooperation in the production of batteries for electric vehicles.

According to the Czech Prime Minister, today's meeting confirmed that our countries have excellent relations on various levels and that we share common values such as democracy, freedom and market economy. The Republic of Korea is one of our most important non-European partners.

South Korean companies are among the largest investors in the Czech Republic and play an important role in our economy. They bring the latest technologies to the Czech Republic. “South Korea is a leader in areas such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence and robotics. These are the key areas we want to focus on as we restart our economy. That is why mutual cooperation is important for us,” said the Prime Minister. Our countries are important trading partners. The turnover of mutual trade has been growing in recent years, reaching CZK 118 billion last year. However, the balance of mutual trade is negative for the Czech Republic, so the state supports the interest of Czech entrepreneurs in the promising Korean market, which offers considerable business opportunities.

The Prime Ministers also discussed the issue of the possible construction of a gigafactory on our territory. “I welcome the interest of Korean companies to invest in the project of factories for the production of batteries for electric cars in the Czech Republic. Such a project would be a boon for our automotive industry. And also in connection with the start of lithium mining in Cínovec, it would allow us to build the entire chain from the extraction of this mineral to the production of electric cars. We discussed the concrete steps that need to be taken to make the gigafactory project a success,” added the Czech Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Fiala praised the participation of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) in the tender for the completion of the Dukovany nuclear power plant. “The bids are now in the stage of updating, we are moving forward with the tender. We believe that during the second round they will be specified and further improved from various aspects,” said the Prime Minister. The development of modular reactors was also a topic of discussion.

The Czech Republic is going to implement a number of strategic investments in the next ten years as part of the restart of the economy, and the construction of high-speed lines is crucial. “We therefore welcome the interest of Korean companies to participate in their construction. I supported the creation of a Czech-Korean working group that would focus on effective technology transfer and mutual sharing of experience,” said Prime Minister Fiala.