For Immediate Release

NEWS

Baltimore, July 18, 2003— Czech Republic Minister of Trade, Milan Urban led a 16-person business delegation to Baltimore for a business luncheon on Wednesday. The delegation accompanied Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla who was in Washington meeting with President Bush on Tuesday to discuss Transatlantic ties. “We came to Baltimore get outside of the Washington beltway and to provide our business delegation an opportunity to meet with major businesses,” said Jiri Kulis, Economic and Commercial Counselor at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington, D.C.

Maryland Secretary of State Karl Aumann welcomed the Czech delegation and reminded the attendees that Maryland and the Czech Republic have long standing ties going back to the late 1800s. “We want to develop new partnerships for the State of Maryland and the Czech Republic,” said Mr. Aumann. The Secretary and over 50 Maryland businesses were treated to a lunch and an opportunity to hear from senior government and business executives about business opportunities in the Czech Republic.

This was a great forum for networking,” said Clarence Shaw, Principal with The American International Trade Group, an export management company. “I work with small to medium-sized companies who are looking for new partnerships overseas. This meeting provided me with a list of contacts from the Czech Republic who may make the perfect partners for our clients,” he said.

The Czech Republic has received over $36 billion in foreign direct investment of the past ten years,” said Martin Jahn, Chief Executive Officer of CzechInvest, a government sponsored investment promotion office in the U.S.. Many firms have chosen the Czech Republic as their Central Europe hub due to its location, liberal investment laws and incentives. “Multinationals come to the Czech Republic for many reasons, but perhaps most importantly it is due to our highly technical workforce that ranks among the best in the world,” said Mr. Jahn.

One business delegation member, Petr Pokorny, Managing Director of Sigmainvest, Ltd, was looking for partnerships in the environmental industry for market entry into the U.S. The luncheon paved the way for some new contacts for Mr. Pokorny and potential matchmaking with similar Maryland firms looking to do business in the Czech Republic. “We can definitely be helpful to Sigmainvest, Ltd,” said Peter Gourlay, Vice President of the World Trade Center Institute (WTCI). “We know the environmental arena well and will work with Sigmainvest and will hopefully find a suitable partner,” said Mr. Gourlay. WTCI was the host for the luncheon and worked with the Embassy and the Maryland business community to arrange the forum.

The seeds of the Trade Minister’s visit were sewn at the annual WTCI Embassy Day event held in Baltimore on May 21. “We were very impressed with the caliber of executives at Embassy Day, where over 300 business executives and diplomats from 75 embassies were in attendance,” said Mr. Kulis. “We sought out WTCI to host this luncheon so that we could connect with real Maryland firms and get the word out to the U.S. business community and through the World Trade Center Institute network,” he said. “The Czech Republic is no longer thought of as part of Eastern Europe, we are part of Europe now,” said Mr. Kulis.

Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, the World Trade Center Institute (WTCI) is the premier international business hub for the Mid-Atlantic region with over 3,000 clients benefiting from its global connections, international business training and customized consulting services. WTCI has an extensive global reach through its 300 world trade centers around the world. As a non-profit, non-political organization, WTCI's overall goal is to enhance international trade, promote local economic development, and ultimately foster economic stability through trade.