The Ministry of Industry has announced the increasing export activities of Czech firms with countries with strategic and high priority. The aim of the export strategy that has been implemented by the current Ministry is to increase the share of exported goods in countries out of the European Economic Area. As the strategy came into force in the last year, the share of good exported into the EEA has decrease from 83 per cent to 81 per cent while still growing (as the Ministry intended the lowering of the Czech export dependence on the European Union). Despite the EEA-export decrease, Czech firms has went on in increasing the trade with previously omitted countries. With the collaboration of the Ministry, Czech firms has succeeded in supplying more goods (in absolute numbers, it is 340 bln CZK in high priority countries and 173 bln CZK in countries of interest). The Ministry of Industry expects that it would enhance the strain to gain new contracts for Czech firms in Egypt, Bangladesh, and Nigeria. Czech firms have appreciated activities of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in institutional arranging of their promotion abroad. The Ministry intends to establish economic relations with sub-Saharan Africa.
In connection with the export strategy, the government has passed the amendment of the state budget for 2013 dealing with institutional arranging of the so-called economic diplomacy. The amendment has raised the amount of money assigned to the Export Guarantee and Insurance Company. In addition to that, the government also announced its intention to merge the CzechInvest and CzechTrade institutions as this merger would allow more effective fostering of foreign relations.
For further information, click here.