Prague, Oct 25 (CTK) – Czech President Milos Zeman has information that a planned Czech-Chinese investment forum is to be cancelled due to Culture Minister Daniel Herman’s meeting with the Dalai Lama, and now he is doing his utmost for the forum to take place, his spokesman Jiri Ovcacek said yesterday.
“In the past days, the president registered the announcement of the cancellation of the planned Czech-Chinese forum that could give another valuable impetus in the areas of investments and support for our exporters on the Chinese market,” Ovcacek said.
He said Zeman was told that the cancellation is due to Herman’s meeting with the Dalai Lama.
“Now the president is doing his utmost for the forum to take place at Prague Castle, despite minister Herman’s interference,” Ovcacek said.
He would not say who informed Zeman that the business forum’s cancellation was connected with the Herman-Dalai Lama meeting.
Czech-Chinese trade has been subject to a debate of late.
According to Zeman, the Chinese investments in the Czech Republic have reached 50 billion crowns.
Some, including Finance Minister Andrej Babis (ANO), have challenged the description of bilateral cooperation as successful.
($1=24.809 crowns)
rtj/dr/ms
