Czech Republic keen on business ties with state

KOCHI: The industrial sector in the Czech Republic is open to Indian companies, the country’s Ambassador to India Miloslav Stasek has said. He was speaking at an interactive session organised by the Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) here on Tuesday.Stating that Kerala was gaining importance in the field of trade and commerce just like Mumbai, Stasek said his country was keen to get maximum participation from the entire Indian subcontinent. The Ambassador invited a delegation of the KCCI to participate in the international engineering fair being organised by Czech Trade, the country’s export promotion council, at Brno in September 2012. “There was good response from entrepreneurs in Kerala after a Czech delegation visited here last year. Our companies have interests in various sectors like agriculture, food processing, tourism and IT, all of which have tremendous potential in Kerala,” he said.“The industrial sector in the Czech Republic, especially automobile, engineering, metallurgy, glass and garment sectors offer a wide range of opportunities for Indian companies. The total imports from India to the Czech Republic in 2011 were worth US $ 151.3 billion,” he said. The business delegation to Kerala, led by the Ambassador included Czech Republic Trade Commissioner Ivan Kamenic, Czech Embassy Commercial Commissioner Jiry Janicek, Czech Republic Confederation of Industry deputy director Kuchtova Dagmar, apart from various representatives of Czech companies.KCCI chairman K N Marzook welcomed the gathering and vice-chairman Antony Thomas proposed a vote of thanks.