Events
Japan Contributing to Czech Economy as Second Largest Investor
—– What are the features of the Czech Republic located in the heart of Europe?
When the Czech Republic was part of the Austrian Empire, the region was the industrial center because of its abundance of coal. And 100 years ago, Czechoslovakia was one of the top ten industrial countries in the world. The communist regime collapsed in 1989, and the union with Slovakia was peacefully dissolved, and we became the Czech Republic in 1993. We still maintain our friendly ties with Slovakia, a country similar to us in terms of language, culture, and history. Currently, our economy is at the top of its capacity. Germany is the largest investor in the Czech Republic. Japan is the second largest, and the Japanese companies operating in our country are making a tremendous contribution to our economy. We have also received rich cultural and tradition-related influences from the rest of Europe. You can see a variety of architectural styles in Prague where many historical buildings are preserved. Also, Charles University is a famous institution with 670 years of history and is the oldest university north of the Alps.
—– The Czech economy was one of the EU’s best performers in 2017, with growth of 4.3% and unemployment rate of 2.9%, What do you think are the long-term economic challenges?
Our export-oriented economy is strong. But because 80% of our exports go to the Western European markets, we are under the influence of their economy. It is hard to keep the growth around 4% for a long time. Our challenge is to increase the effectiveness of our labor force, but our situation regarding the aging population is different from that in Japan. The Czech Republic welcomes immigrants who make up for the labor shortage and keep our population up. Immigrants from the former Soviet bloc countries can quickly learn our language and assimilate themselves into our society. On the industrial side, our challenge is to promote research and development activities and expand innovation-related fields.
—– Last year, Japan and the Czech Republic celebrated the 60th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations. 2020 will mark the centennial of our diplomatic ties. How do you see the development of bilateral relations?
During the First World War, there were the Czechoslovak legion left in Siberia and the Japanese government helped them return home. After President Masaryk (the first President of Czechoslovakia) visited Japan for inspection of the army in 1918, he also visited the United States to establish diplomatic ties with them. This visit was of great historical significance. Czechoslovakia maintained a good relationship with Japan even when it was part of the Soviet bloc after the world wars. Currently, over 250 Japanese companies are in the Czech Republic, and employ local workers which account for more than 10% of all the jobs created by the Japanese companies in Europe. I believe that those companies chose our country for our central location in the European markets, excellent human resources, and friendly people. The Czech people are quite interested in the Japanese culture such as cherry blossoms and bushido, and advanced technologies. The two countries have good political relations, and just had a summit meeting last year to reaffirm the cooperative relationship to work on global issues. Although geographically distant from each other, the Czech Republic and Japan can continue to work together as partners. We are hoping that Japan can make positive impacts on the European issues. And at times, a small nation like us can be a useful friend for Japan.
—– The Czech Embassy in Tokyo calls 2018 the “Czech Business Year in Japan”. What kind of activities are you implementing?
The Japan-Europe EPA is a huge possibility to increase our business. We have designated 2018 as the year to introduce Czech companies in order to promote more Czech businesses to the Japanese market. We are working with CzechInvest, JETRO, and other agencies to offer events and business seminars that feature Czech products and technologies. Back in June, a delegation led by the deputy foreign minister in charge of economic affairs visited Japan; and the delegates included corporate representatives from the fields of biotechnology, defense, IT, and energy. We successfully hosted the Czech Festival in September. And we have created a website to provide the information about Czech companies.
—– What is the Ambassador’s view on challenges for EU such as Brexit and refugee policy?
Brexit was an unfortunate incident. The future of the relationship between Britain and the EU is unclear, but we are hoping for best possible political solutions including continuation of open market policies that are beneficial to both Britain and the Czech Republic. We are less dependent on Britain, and Brexit does not impact our economy so much. But it does affect the Czech companies that operate in or export to Britain. We are an open nation. We have a history of accepting Vietnamese refugees, but as a small nation, we cannot accept a large number of refugees. Therefore we are against the EU’s refugee quota system. We plan to keep the number of refugees under our control and protect our language, culture, and livelihood. The EU has criticized some of its members for their judicial independence, but this is a sensitive issue about sovereignty and responsibility.
（Interview by Shu Tamaru, FEC Counsellor）