The UK wants to increase exports to the Czech Republic, the British Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Ian Livingston, said during a visit to Brno on Tuesday. He was accompanied by more than 60 representatives from UK-based SMEs active in the energy, financial and retail sectors. Livingston, who also visits Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, estimates the CEE region could generate GBP 30bn (CZK 1 trillion) for British businesses.
While imports from Britain to the Czech Republic rose last year by 7.1 percent to CZK 64bn, Czech exports to Britain remained flat at CZK 153bn. Škoda Auto was responsible for a significant portion of the total. British companies have invested more than CZK 76.6bn in the Czech Republic since the early 1990s. The biggest British investors include Vodafone, Tesco and the car producer Rolls Royce. Livingston said he wants to support Czech exports to the UK, as the Czech Republic has strong engineering and information technology sectors.
