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Working visit of Martin Kocourek, Czech Minister of Industry and Trade, to the United States on December 6-7, 2010

(This article expired 03.12.2013.)

Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic Martin Kocourek undertook a working visit to Washington, DC, and officially with US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke launched the Czech-US Economic Dialogue.

Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Martin Kocourek and US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke officially launched the Czech-US Economic Dialogue during their talks in Washington, DC, on December 6, 2010. Both sides agreed that intensive bilateral economic cooperation will be one of the pillars of their mutual relations. The Ministers have agreed that they will actively promote measures that will lead to increased mutual commercial exchange and investments flowing both ways. As a priority, the partners will focus on supporting innovation and investment into science and research, designating IT and energy as being key sectors as well.

Minister Kocourek and Secretary Locke approved a plan for regularly holding economic missions from the Czech Republic to the US and vice versa. These missions, which will always concentrate on a specific sector of the economy, will be an ideal opportunity for representatives of the business communities to gain commercial contacts with their international partners. Minister Kocourek informed his partner in the discussions that the Czech Republic plans for the focus of the first economic mission to be on the energy sector and expects that it will take place in the spring of the year 2011.

Minister Kocourek and Secretary Locke together with US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu signed a Joint Declaration Concerning Industrial and Commercial Cooperation in the Nuclear Energy Sector. The signing of this declaration confirms both countries’ priority interest in the nuclear energy sector and launches intensive bilateral cooperation on the commercial basis as well as in the science-technology field.

As a follow up to these discussions, the first round of the Economic Dialogue took place on December 7. It was led by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Milan Hovorka on behalf of the Czech Republic and Deputy Assistant Secretary Juan Verde on behalf of the US. During these discussions, the partners discussed specific investment and commercial opportunities in their respective countries and also specific steps that could be taken by the governments in order to remove the remaining barriers of bilateral trade and investment.

The next round of the Economic Dialogue will take place in the second half of the year 2011 in Prague.