Business Meeting with H E Mr Vaclav Klaus, Hon'ble President of the Czech Republic
November 7, 2005, New Delhi

His Excellency Mr. Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic, distinguished members of the Czech and Indian business community, friends,

I feel privileged today, to have the honour to address this meeting, in the presence of His Excellency, President Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic. We are delighted to welcome you to India sir, well aware, that we are welcoming an old friend once again. We are happy that a large business and media delegation has also accompanied you to our country. We feel that the most important issue of increasing awareness of the Czech Republic in India and of India in the Czech Republic would be greatly served by your visit.

Our two countries have a long tradition of political, economic and cultural cooperation. Our trade and economic links predate our independence. We have had particularly strong association in areas such as machine tools, heavy machinery, power and transport. Many of our large public sector units have benefited immensely from transfer of Czech technology. Our new economic realities provide us with exciting opportunities for building on this firm foundation. I am confident that your business delegation will find interesting avenues for future collaboration.

Bilateral trade has registered a rapid increase in the past few years. We are happy to note that the turnover of US$ 385 million for last year is likely to increase substantially to touch the US dollar half billion mark. Equally, we are happy that trade is diversifying from the traditional commodity items to engineering goods and value added items. We are confident that we can project our trade touching US$ 1 billion within the next 5 years.

Investment in each other's countries is also growing. Skoda Auto is poised for expansion and Tata trucks are in a niche sector in the infrastructure, construction and mining industry. Infosys has set up a successful Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company in the Czech Republic. However, the potential is much larger and needs to be harnessed.

Tourism is another area of promise. Hindi films choose locales in foreign lands and this helps popularize these countries. India today sends out 6 million visitors abroad each year and the Czech Republic, with its beautiful tourist attractions could certainly act as a magnet to many more Indians than at present. Equally, the sunny beaches of Goa, the backwaters of Kerala, and the palaces and forts of Rajasthan, to name just a few, could bring Czechs here to India on holiday. We need to explore these possibilities as well as the possibility of investing in the hotel industry in each other's countries. A bilateral air services agreement was signed between the two countries in 1997. Direct air services and improved air links could provide a boost to tourism and business exchanges.

I understand an India-Czech Joint Business Council was established in 1991 with FICCI and its counterpart as nodal partners. I feel we need to activate such mechanisms to better serve the purpose of stimulating and promoting trade and investment.

In this context, we need to give greater attention to our visa regimes, so that they do not inhibit genuine business and tourist traffic. We are willing to have bilateral consultations with the Czech Republic on developing a flexible visa regime which would facilitate business and tourist travel while complying with our International obligations and meeting our security concerns.

An increasing number of Indian students are going to the Czech Republic for higher studies, especially in medicine and engineering. We would like to see this trend maintained. We would also urge greater interaction between scientists and research scholars of both countries in all disciplines. We also note that Charles University, Prague was one of the earliest to establish a Chair in Sanskrit; and that Indian languages including Bengali have been and are continuing to be studied by students, scholars and academics in the Czech Republic. We would like to encourage and promote such activity as it would be a catalyst to infuse greater awareness and knowledge of Indian philosophy, history, tradition, yoga, ayurveda, cuisine and culture to the Czech Republic and through greater interaction promote people-to-people contact. This would eventually translate to improved understanding and relationship between our countries in all walks of life.