Prague, June 22 (CTK) – The Czech Foreign Ministry should conduct a total revision of its embassies and trade representations to know accurately which are needed and which are not, Finance Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) said yesterday.
The ministry should also prepare an audit of its property, Babis told the regular annual conference of economic diplomats.
Babis said when it comes to the property, there was sometimes the belief that it only meant money, while people tend to forget that it involved high costs.
He mentioned the Stirin castle, central Bohemia.
Babis said he certainly did not think that the ministry needed it.
He said he believed synergy should be used more in the Czech Republic’s various representations abroad, be it the Czech Centres, CzechInvest, CzechTrade or CzechTourism organisations.
“As said by Babis, w will work on making the state representations abroad being a single team. They should work together and their number should reflect the opportunities in the relevant regions,” Deputy Foreign Minister Martin Tlapa said in reaction to Babis’s statement.
Tlapa said the current model existing in economic diplomacy was working well.
Evaluation of economic diplomats is also good. Most of them have been assessed as good or very good, he added.
“The number of the embassies with problems is tiny,” Tlapa said.
Babis said there was the serious problem of lack of manpower in some fields.
Due to the problems with visas, it is often difficult for foreign workers to work in the Czech Republic, he added.
“It is really a big problem because unemployment here is falling, while we do not have the professions we need,” he added.
Babis said he could see the potential of further growth in the sphere of tourism.
He said the opening of the Prague-Chicago and Prague-Casablanca airline routes might be envisaged.
