Q.1. My first question will be regarding the industrial
zones; lately there have been major changes in the development
of this issue. Could you tell us more in detail?
A.1. The most visible development was that we
have decided together with Czechinvest that it would
be useful to train and appoint people at the heads of
the already existing industrial zones. We will definitely
continue our policy of preparing of industrial zones
for foreign investors and also we have passed the Act
for Investment Incentives. I will visit one of the biggest
investments in the Czech Republic today, which is a
factory in an industrial zone of Toyota-Peugeot-Citroen.
It is an investment of 1.5 billion USD. I am very glad
that the progress of this investment is very successful
from both sides- state and contractual partners. We
are preparing other huge industrial zones that will
be financed from the public fund of the Czech Republic.
We will also prepare new incentives in the form of income
tax relief, support of new employment possibilities
and requalification of labor force. The Ministry of
Industry and Trade also supports subcontractors' activities
through its programs. We mainly support sophisticated
products with higher added value. In this field we would
welcome other massive investments in the Czech Republic.
We have perfect experience with this kind of investors.
Q.2. Another sector of the economy where the investments
are welcome is the energy sector. Could you tell us
about the progress in the creation of the energy policy?
A.2. At the moment we are preparing an energy
concept of the Czech Republic on the level of the Government,
we want to present it for approval to the Government
in the second half of the year. In this concept we will
define precisely the share of different types of energy
on the market, define the further steps towards the
liberalization of this market and also define the importance
and role of energy in the production for our own needs
and import. We are also considering privatization of
some energy producers. At the moment we are working
on the stabilization of CEZ to strengthen its competitiveness
and position on the European market. That is the merger
of CEZ with the four major regional distribution companies
which was finished recently, of course this step was
approved by the Antimonopoly Office and the Constitutional
Court. This step is also directed towards the aim of
privatization of CEZ in the distant future of three
to five years. Concerning the lignite (brown coal) companies
we are preparing the privatization of those companies,
either this year or the beginning of next year. Of course
all the privatization processes will be organized in
a transparent way on the basis of public tender and
in accordance with other precisely defined criteria.
Q.3. The companies mining black coal is among the
ones to be privatized, do you think it would be appropriate
to sell them ahead of the creation of the national energy
concept?
A.3. We have only one company left, OKD that
is active in the sector of black coal mining. At the
moment this issue is under discussion whether to sell
the minority stake directly to a partner chosen by governmental
resolution, however this is still an open-end discussion.
Q.4. You have touched upon the subject of privatizing
CEZ, but there is still a long road ahead. Could you
tell us about the major challenges of the Government
in order to create a competitive CEZ?
A.4. It is important that CEZ produces electric
energy with highly competitive prices compared to the
European giants. We need that the production of CEZ
increases slowly but steadily, that means the part of
export should follow this tendency too. We also need
to increase the productivity of labor force and reduce
the unnecessary costs for CEZ to be highly competitive
and strong in the time of privatization. The whole idea
must be in the context of providing energy of our own
sources so that we have a secure, stable and independent
supply of energy.
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Q.5. As far as we know also EDF is one of the interested
partners in privatizing CEZ. What do you think that
would be the advantages that CEZ and the Czech Republic
would gain from getting the investor from France?
A.5. It is hard to answer this question. The
possible investor of CEZ, once privatized, will probably
be an important European company and I can imagine it
can be a French one. There is still a need to prepare
the clear criteria for this public tender and the best
one will win.
Q.6. There are already foreign investors in the automotive
industry, in the energy sector, etc, What sectors do
you thing would be the priorities of the investors in
the upcoming years?
A.6. We would welcome investments into advanced
technologies; products with high added value that will
be competitive on the big European market, as we are
a small open economy in the center of Europe depending
mainly on the export. Also, for the reason that we have
a good human capital - qualified managers and workers
who are creative and flexible to learn sophisticated
production.
Q.7. Many of the investors cooperate with research
and development institutes in the Czech Republic. Do
you have any plans from the part of the Ministry to
support such cooperation?
A.7. We are already supporting this area of
cooperation. At the moment there is a revision of the
different programs that are going on. These programs
are directly financed from the state budget and are
carried out through the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
We have many programs supporting mainly three fields:
innovation, development and research in IT.
Q.8. You have been recently appointed and I believe
you have a busy schedule. When talking about your international
agenda, what are your priorities?
A.8. I decided to assign my department to work
on National Economical Strategy for the entrance of
our economy to the European Union. That includes an
analysis of the existing programs and projects of Ministry
of Industry and Trade where we will search for possibilities
to offer to the Czech business sector to participate
in. We are working on it in the context of the public
finance reform going on in the Czech Republic and in
the context of the National Plan of Employment. It is
very important for us that the citizens say "yes"
in the referendum about the EU accession, and we believe
that by developing further our strategy we will contribute
to the better understanding of entrepreneurs and citizens
of the EU. The aim is that every single entrepreneur
at the time of the decision will be informed about what
to expect in the EU, he will know also about the strategic
decisions of the Czech Republic. That is why we are
using the context of the public finance reform, we also
included there the taxation issues. I believe there
exist certain doubts and fears especially among small
and medium enterprises and our aim is to clarify those
doubts.
Q.9. You will have the job of leading this ministry
into the European Union, what is the biggest challenge
for you?
A.9. The biggest challenge is to retain the
growth of the economy in this difficult era. Our big
ambition is that the GDP grows a little bit faster than
the average of the EU and to reach as soon as possible
the level of 75% of GDP of the average of the EU. If
this will be reached in the time of my work I will be
very satisfied.
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