Business Forum opening interventions:

HE. Mr. Moshe Kahlon, Minister of Finance

H.E. Mr. Jan Mládek, Minister of Industry and Trade

Mr. Martin Tlapa, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Ofer Sachs, Director General, Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute

Mr. Stanislav Kázecký, Vicepresident of the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic

Master of ceremonies: Mr. David Hercky, Chairman of ICCCI

Distinguished guests mentioned that Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk was the first head of state who visited Jewish communities in Palestine before the State of Israel was established. Václav Havel was then the first leader of a former Soviet bloc country who visited Israel after the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.

There’s no doubt that Israel is Czech Republic’s closet ally and trading partner in the region. Exports over 17 billion Czech koruna in 2015 made Israel our 5th largest non-European export market. In Czech currency terms, the trade between our countries reached an all-time high of 23 billion last year. Israeli tourists, on the other hand, spent more nights in Czech hotels and spa resorts than those from any other non-European country, except the United States.

Applied science and industrial research are indeed two areas where we see lot of untapped potential. For this reason, the Czech Foreign Ministry has last year decided to open our first diplomatic position of a specialist on research, development and innovations. We applauded the Israel Electric Corporation for making the Czech Republic a hub for its critical infrastructure protection and training activities in Europe.

And that was is indeed the message to all participating Israeli businessmen: “Do not hesitate to take advantage of the opportunity to trade and invest in the fastest growing European economy in 2015, and make the Czech Republic your gateway to the largest single market in the World. ”

The Business Forum than continued by a panel discussion: “What it takes to make a successful business cooperation” featuring six prominent Israeli and Ctech companies: 3M, ELTA SYSTEMS, BETTER, ŠKODA TRANSPORTATION, TTC MARCONI, and PRIMECELL THERAPEUTICS. Moderators of the panel discussion: Mr. Tomáš Pojar (ČISOK) and Mr. Shaul Lifshitz (ICCCI).

ICCCI with the help of the Israel Export and Cooperation Institute also organised a B2B match-making session for over 30 delegates representing Czech corporate sector. The event was concluded with addresses of  H.E. Mr. Benjamin Netanjahu, Prime Minister of Israel, and H.E. Mr. Bohuslav Sobotka, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic. Mr. Pavel Smutný, President of ČISOK, provided the audience with final remarks.