Prime Minister: We enjoy sound relations with Germany

For their meeting, Prime Minister Nečas highlighted the importance of Germany as a market for sales by Czech producers. “Germany is our most important foreign trade partner. Almost a third of Czech exports are headed for Germany. For the export-oriented Czech economy it is important not only to have a good relationship, but also to have a surplus in the trade balance for the Czech Republic,” said the Prime Minister.

We welcome mutual investment opportunities

According to Petr Nečas, Germany is also a key foreign investor for the Czech Republic. “Germany is also one of our most important foreign investors. Direct German investment accounts for more than 20 per cent of total foreign investment in the Czech Republic,” added Prime Minister Nečas.

In the Czech Prime Minister’s opinion, cooperation between the two countries in the field of development and innovation is equally important. The Czech Republic has focused investment incentives for foreign investors on this area. “For the Czech economy, which is based on industry, it is very important that German investors invest not only in factories, but also in research, development, innovation and technology development. This is one of the reasons why our investment incentive system has incorporated investment in technology centres into this framework,” noted the Czech Prime Minister.

Apart from technical advancements, which the Czech Prime Minister believes is essential for the further development of industry, another topic covered by the talks today was the energy sector. “An affordable and stable energy supply is essential for the competitiveness of industry in both the Czech Republic and in Germany,” said Prime Minister Nečas.

Regarding the market situation for mobile operators, Prime Minister Petr Nečas stressed that the Czech Republic is interested in nurturing a competitive environment. “We are strongly committed to a transparent and predictable investment environment, but also to ensuring that this environment is based on competition among individual market participants to the benefit of both industry and end consumers, citizens of the Czech Republic,” observed Petr Nečas.

Philip Rösler: Our economic relations are excellent

The German Vice-Chancellor stressed the mutual trade between the two countries. “We have really excellent economic relations. Bilateral trade turnover has reached EUR 65 billion. This figure shows the importance and good performance of the Czech economy,” said Philip Rösler.

He also noted that German investors were interested in research and development in technology and education. He also views the energy sector as an important issue. “We are aware of a great burden to must be borne by the Czech transmission network, as a large amount of electricity comes from renewable sources from the north of Germany, and we are grateful that the Czech Republic wants to invest in additional transmission infrastructure,” observed the German Vice-Chancellor.

In this regard, he noted that Germany was faced with the challenge of constructing its own energy infrastructure to relieve the burden on the Czech transmission system.