Gov't pledges new fund to enhance trade with the Czech Republic

Taipei, June 4 (CNA) Taiwan's government on Thursday pledged to establish a new 50 million euro (US$58 million) fund to encourage more Taiwanese investment in the Czech Republic and vice versa, as visiting Czech Senate Speaker Miloš Vystrčil wrapped up a four-day visit.

At a press event at Taiwan's foreign ministry, Vystrčil, who arrived in the country with a 40-member delegation on Monday, said he and the group, which consisted of Czech business and academic representatives, had a fruitful visit.

One major achievement was announced during a visit to Taiwan's National Development Council (NDC) earlier Thursday. Vystrčil said that during the meeting attended by NDC Minister Yeh Chun-hsien (葉俊顯) and Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫), Yeh announced the new fund, which will be used to enhance bilateral investment.

A separate NDC press release said the new fund will be established in addition to the existing US$200 million fund for investment in Central and Eastern Europe launched by the council in 2022.

According to the initial plan, the fund will be used specifically to invest in Taiwanese companies seeking to enter the Czech market, Czech companies that have entered the Taiwanese market, and Taiwan-Czech joint ventures, Yeh added.

Yeh said he hopes to translate the friendly relations between the two sides into more "concrete results in two-way investment and technology exchange" to further enhance Taiwan-Czech economic and trade cooperation, according to the NDC press release.

At Thursday's press event, Vystrčil said he was also pleased to see that more direct flights between Taiwan and Prague would begin operating in August. Compared with the three weekly direct flights available during his previous visit to Taipei in 2020, there will soon be daily direct flights between the two destinations, he added.

Meanwhile, responding to criticism of the trip from within his own government, Vystrčil defended the decision.

He said he had asked fellow senators whether they supported strengthening ties with Taiwan before embarking on the trip. Of the chamber's 68 senators, 54 supported him and passed a resolution recommending that he visit Taiwan again to enhance bilateral ties.

Although the 2026 delegation is relatively small because he and his group were unable to travel to Taipei on a government aircraft, Vystrčil said he believed the trip was a success.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who was elected late last year, declined to provide a government aircraft for the trip because he did not want it to be seen as an official endorsement that could harm Czech business interests in China.

Vystrčil and his delegation were scheduled to depart Taipei late Thursday.