Prague, Jan 8 (CTK) – Japanese firms are interested in new investments in the Czech Republic, especially in industrial production, nuclear power and infrastructure, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said after talks with his Czech counterpart Lubomir Zaoralek in Prague on Sunday.
Zaoralek said Kishida’s visit to Prague might be a preparation of the Czech prime minister’s trip to Tokyo. PM Bohuslav Sobotka might visit Japan in the first half of the year, he said.
Kishida said Japan was the second biggest foreign investor in the Czech Republic, following Germany.
The largest Japanese investment in the country has so far been the construction of the Toyota Peugeot Citroen Automobile (TPCA) plant 15 years ago.
Japan’s Asahi brewery group recently agreed on the takeover of Plzensky Prazdroj, the largest Czech beer producer. The U.S.-Japanese Westinghouse Electric Company is one of the six bidders interested in the construction of new units of Czech nuclear power plants.
Zaoralek said he would like the two countries to more cooperate in science and research, defence industry and exchange of technology, apart from political and economic cooperation.
He said if Sobotka visited Japan, he might support the entry of Czech firms on the Japanese market. “This concerns mainly the food-processing industry and nanotechnologies,” Zaoralek told journalists.
He said the Czech Republic considered Japan a stable and quality partner.
Zaoralek also talked about cooperation in culture. Japan declared 2017 the year of Czech culture. The Slav Epic series of paintings by Czech Art-Nouveau artist Alfons Mucha will be displayed in Tokyo for three months this spring. Kishida had a look at the paintings in Prague on Sunday.
Kishida on Sunday met the organisers of events that will mark the 60th anniversary of the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
After the press conference, the two ministers returned to their talks and focused on foreign policy affairs, Zaoralek said.
