By Monsi A. Serrano
Photos courtesy of Czech Embassy Manila
More than one year after the historical visit of the Czech Republic’s Prime Minister His Excellency Petr Fiala last April 2023, wherein the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Manila hosted the Czech Industry Forum 2023, another successful business forum was organized on July 30th in Makati and coincided with the 2nd Session of the Philippines – Czech Republic Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation.
During the business opportunity seminar, five Czech companies presented their long-term and sustainable solutions in water management, waste management, hydro energy, renewable energy, and healthcare. Interestingly, there were over 50 participants from various sectors and provided unique opportunities to discuss concrete ways of trade collaboration between the two countries.
Meanwhile, in his welcome speech Director General Muřický noted that, “The size and composition of the delegation show our interest in further strengthening the economic partnership with the Philippines. The business forums held recently in the Philippines on the occasion of the visit of the Czech Minister of Agriculture, as well as today’s seminar, along with the Memorandum of Understanding signed recently in Prague during the official visit of H. E. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to the Czech Republic, should start bearing fruit soon.”
On July 31, 2024, the Second Session of the Joint Economic Cooperation Committee (JCEC) was held at the Sheraton Hotel and proved to be highly productive. The JCEC Technical Meeting covered a broad spectrum of bilateral economic cooperation, including agriculture and the food industry, manufacturing, energy, resource-based cooperation such as mining, transportation, Information Technology-Business Process Management (IT-BPM), space, defense, education and university linkages, and labor. The Plenary Session featured discussions on the economic situation, regional and global developments, trade and investment relations. The event concluded with a signing ceremony, underscoring the interest of the Czech Republic and the Philippines to further strengthen their economic ties.
The 2nd Session of the Joint Economic Committee on Economic Cooperation was co-chaired by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, Director General Mr. Eduard Muřický, and Mr. Allan B. Gepty, Undersecretary for International Trade, Department of Trade and Industry of the Republic of the Philippines. The head of the Czech delegation was accompanied by key figures from the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic who also had separate meetings with their counterparts and other partners in the Philippines, including Makati Mayor and University of the Philippines President. The Session of the Joint Economic Committee on Economic Cooperation was further strengthened by the presence of a business delegation, underscoring the collaborative efforts in strengthening economic ties and fostering mutual growth.