Dubai Chamber receives Czech PrimeMinister, signs agreement of cooperation
In Dubai as part of his Yemen-Vietnam-UAE tour, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek highlights the potential of investment opportunities available in his country
The business matching event is attended by HE Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, UAE Minister of Foreign Trade
HE Abdul Rahman Saif Al Ghurair, 1st Vice Chairman of Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and Mr Jaroslav Hanak, Vice-President, Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, signed an Agreement of Cooperation yesterday (Monday) on the sidelines of the high profile visit of HE Mirek Topolanek, Czech Prime Minister and the country’s large delegation of ministers, government officials and business leaders’ visit to the UAE. The event was also attended by HE Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, UAE Minister of Foreign Trade and HE Eng Hamad Buamim, Director General of Dubai Chamber.
The agreement aims at improving and strengthening business ties while also exploring the need to foster a spirit of better cooperation between the business communities from both sides in general and between their respective members in particular. Under the agreement both the parties will also work jointly in the fields of industrial relations, trade and services and setting up of joint ventures as well as equity investment in line with the laws of the land.
Welcoming the delegation to the business matching event, Al Ghurair said, “The personal visit by the Czech Prime Minister and his high profile ministerial and business delegation augurs well for carving out a mutually advantageous cooperation in the fields of industrial relations, trade and services as we start this current networking session with the signing of an Agreement of Cooperation between the two sides.”
Al Ghurair added, “This Agreement of Cooperation between Dubai and the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic will go a long way in
establishing a stronger business relationship between the visitors and us. We
at Dubai Chamber are extremely committed to extend all possible assistance
and facilities to the Czech businessmen and encourage them to set up new direct businesses and joint ventures in Dubai,” he said.
“Dubai has always been on the forefront of an economic boom as the government’s continuous support has helped the emirate to create an encouraging business environment by adopting a free economy and open market policy which has directly helped in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) while the Dubai Government’s Strategic Plan 2015 is further boosting the trading activities of the private sector by offering various opportunities in trading, banking and financial services and consultancy, information technology, exports and re-exports, real estate and construction, logistics & maritime services and others,” said Al Ghurair.
HE Mirek Topolanek, Czech Prime Minister, said: “The Czech Republic is very much interested in strengthening bilateral relations with Dubai which happens to be its biggest trading partner in the region with $590 million turnover and this business matching event and the signing of agreement of cooperation will help achieve investment opportunities in both countries and will especially assist in pulling in UAE investors to the vast potential of investment in the Czech Republic. We would rather offer conservative, long-term, guaranteed revenues thus we invite investors looking for good value for their money.”
Topolanek added, “As Dubai is the gateway to the Middle East, the Czech Republic is in the heart of Europe and is also the entry point for doing business with Russia and Balkans. But presently, the country has a lot of its iconic properties up for sale and it’s really the last opportunity for the private investors to buy prestigious assets, for example, the Prague Airport, the national airline CSA Czech Airlines, the Opera House and many more. Mind you, we are not doing this for money but for better business,” assured the Prime Minister who said that he is more of a businessman than a state head as he has spent a better part of his life doing business.
Topolanek also informed that his country was recently ranked as the best transforming economies out of the 120 assessed countries in the world and
that this sixth most economically powerful country offered lower taxes, less red tape and full governmental support to all the investors.
The delegation gave a number of presentations about the investment environment in the Czech Republic as well as the availability of opportunities in the industrial sector which was followed by one-to-one business meetings.
The top five items of Dubai’s Import from Czech Republic in 2006 included articles of stone, plaster, cement, asbestos, mica, ceramic products, glass and glassware, machinery, electrical and electronics equipment, chemical or allied industries, vegetable products and miscellaneous manufactured articles while the top five items of Dubai’s Export & Re-export to the Czech Republic in 2006 was Machinery, electrical and electronics equipment, chemical or allied industries, textiles and textile items, articles of stone, plaster, cement, asbestos, mica, ceramic products, glass and glassware, and miscellaneous manufactured articles.
Dubai shares a long-time trading relationship with the Czech Republic as there are presently 13 Czech partnership companies operating in the emirate
while Dubai’s non-oil trade with the country reached AED
1.9 billion at the end of 2006 with imports touching AED 1.8 billion and Export - Re-Export reaching out to AED 80.3 million as the country ranked as no. 44 in a list of Dubai’s trade partners in 2006. The two sides have earlier signed an agreement of cooperation way back in 1987 before the separation of the country into Czech and Slovakia republics.
The Czech Republic is one of the most stable and prosperous of the post-Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. Growth in 2000-07 was supported by exports to the EU, primarily to Germany, and a strong recovery of foreign and domestic investment. Domestic demand is playing an ever more important role in underpinning growth as the availability of credit cards and mortgages increases.
