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FDI in the Czech Republic to reach $5bn this year
( 06 / December / 2004 )
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Czech Republic is likely to double to $5bn (approx. CZK 120bn) at end-2004 year-on-year, and the country will retain its leading position in the Central European region, said world-famous economist Jan Svejnar at the 8th strategic forum in Senohraby near Prague on 2nd December 2004.
Investment in Slovakia is predicted to reach a third of the Czech level. Per capita investment will reach $488 in the Czech Republic this year, $276 in Slovakia, $169 in Hungary and $131 in Poland.
"CR is still a foreign investment centre and the new challenge is to retain this position," Svejnar said at the forum.
The Czech Republic cannot long rely on cheap labour, according to Svejnar. It should try to become a centre of science and research of which there are not many in the world but which secure big development for the given country.
CzechInvest CEO Radomil Novak said earlier that investment in the country could stabilise at $4-5bn starting this year, with swings stemming from the privatisation of state-held companies.
Next year the cabinet wants to sell Cesky Telecom for which it can get some CZK 52-57bn, according to analysts. Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka says the sale of mining company Severoceske doly should take place in late-2004 early-2005 and the sale of Vitkovice Steel should be wound up in mid-2005.
JAN SVEJNAR – Czech, intellectual father of economic reforms and Czech government concepts, director of the Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan and a remarkable person. Born October 2, 1952 in Prague, he studied demography at the Université de Géneve. He received his doctorate from Princeton University. Since 1996 he has been executive director of the William Davidson Institute and Everett E. Berg Professor at the University of Michigan Business School. Professor Svejnar was one of the main creators of Czech economic reforms in the early 1990s, and was also advisor to President Havel. He has led research and expert consulting in over twenty countries and has received awards from the National Science Foundation, the World Bank and the National Council for East European and Eurasian Research.
Sources: Czech News Agency, Internet