Prague, Dec 20 (CTK) – The Czech Republic will have to make big changes if it wants to ensure a high quality of life for all by 2030, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) told the Sustainable Development Forum 2016 yesterday.
The Czech Republic will have to leave the growth model based on foreign investments and low wages, and enhance domestic businesses, in particular the small and medium-sized ones, which have a big latent potential, Sobotka said.
Pavel Kabat, director of the Vienna-based International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), praised the Czech Republic for preparing a strategy since other countries, especially those from Central Europe, had been unable to do so.
Kabat unveiled the international project World in 2050 in which he takes part.
He called on the Czech government and the Czech Academy of Sciences to join it and to show a direction to other Central European countries.
The Czech Republic’ strategic framework for sustainable development, drafted by the Czech government, was preceded by two years of preparations, Sobotka said.
They were joined by more than 500 experts from various institutions, including public online consultancy, with the access of the general public, which took place for the first time in the civil service, Sobotka said.
Now the document is in the stage of comments, he added.
Sobotka said education, for one, would have to react to large changes occurring on the labour market.
The continuing robotisation and digitation provide a big opportunity to gradually eliminate routine work and to increase leisure time, Sobotka said.
“However, if we do not offer other jobs in other spheres of the economy, the processes of robotisation and digitation may threaten employment,” Sobotka said.
The state’s capability to transform farming in order to ensure food security, avoiding environmental risks such as water contamination by fertilisers and soil degradation, are other big challenges for the future, Sobotka said.
pv/dr/ms
