"Potential for Czech-Indian collaboration is great...": Czech PM Petr Fiala at Vibrant Gujarat Summit

Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], January 10 : The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Petr Fiala has said that the potential for Czech-Indian collaboration is great not only in energy but also in wastewater treatment or sustainable agriculture, and added that he is interested in long-term strategic investment.
He said that the strategic investments would include AI (Artificial Intelligence) research and especially semiconductors.
In his address at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024 today, the Czech PM said, "The goal is to have reliable, efficient and sustainable energy."
"This is about the green environment and the potential for Czech-Indian collaboration is great not only in energy but also in wastewater treatment or sustainable agriculture..." he underlined.
Speaking further, Fiala said, "My government is mainly interested in long-term strategic investment. This includes AI research, electromobility and especially semiconductors. They are key for high-tech industries today, from cars to mobile phones."
He said that the Czech Republic is also paying close attention to innovation in the energy sector.
"Unlike many European countries, we believe in the future of nuclear power. We have 50 years of expertise in nuclear power. Our top interest is the development of small modular reactors...It is also a chance to improve our Czech-Indian capacities in nuclear energy research. We are very serious about innovation in renewable energy and green digital technologies," he added.
India and the Czech Republic share good bilateral economic relations, which gained momentum after the Czech Republic gained entry into the European Union in 2004. New mechanisms and diversified interaction thereafter resulted in revival of bilateral trade to more than USD 3.16 billion in 2022, from just USD 86 million in 1993 as per Czech statistics.
The bilateral Defence Cooperation gained momentum with the signing of MoU on Bilateral Defence Cooperation in October 2003. Accordingly, Joint Defence Committee has been setup. So far six such meetings of JDC have taken place with the last meeting taking place in New Delhi on 3 February 2020. The Czech defence companies have been regularly supplying military equipment to Indian armed forces.
India and Czech Republic are working in niche technologies given the latter's strength as the incubator of Technologies in strategic sectors such as defence, nuclear energy, cyber security, AI, Big Data, nanotechnology, laser etc. In June 2017, ISRO launched Czech nanosatellite -VZLUSAT-1, the first Czech technological satellite.
The Czech Republic strongly supported India's full membership of Nuclear Suppliers Group(NSG) through its constructive role in NSG and in EU deliberations. Czech Republic supported India in recently held elections for non-permanent membership of UNSC for 2021-22 and also supports comprehensive reform of UN and India's credentials for permanent membership of UNSC.
The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Petr Fiala, arrived in India yesterday to attend the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, spanning three days, from January 10-12. The Czech Premier was received at the airport by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.