Czech Republic is one of the leading economic partners of Poland – the second largest in terms of volume of the Polish export and the third most popular country among the Polish investors, following Luxembourg and Cyprus. Similarly to Poland, the other countries of the European Union tackle the effects of the Russian invasion to Ukraine – shooting-up costs and disturbances affecting the supply chains in the industry and construction as well as inflation. Minister Buda invited his Czech counterpart to attend the special debate dedicated to the recovery of Ukraine during the 590 Congress to be held on 22 June 2022.

During the Polish – Czech intergovernmental consultations we have discussed the impact of the Russian invasion to Ukraine on the economic situation of our countries, its upshot on the supply chains, key economic sectors and the measures to counteract its negative effects. We pointed out at the need for involvement of the countries from our region in the recovery of Ukraine and its economy

- stressed Waldemar Buda

The major issue discussed by the Polish and Czech Ministers was the upcoming Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Czechs will take the presidency of the EU Council out of the hands of France on 1 July.

Minister Buda assured his Czech counterpart on the Ministry’s of Economic Development and Technology readiness to support and cooperate in full with the Czech partners at the EU forums both at the level of working groups and political level of the EU Council.

The Ministers agreed that one of the priority legislative projects in terms of economy scheduled for the timeframe of the Czech Presidency – the Act on chips – must in its rules for providing public aid to the investments related to semiconductor production include the obligation of locating the auxiliary investments also in the other member state rather than only in the state in which the production plant is built.

The Czech Presidency aims also at intensifying the works on the long awaited project concerning the new Single Market Emergency Instrument (SMEI).

According to Minister Buda, this instrument should be flexible enough to enable swift actions and as burdenless to the entrepreneurs, including in particular these from the SME sector, as possible.  

The new single market emergency instrument should be a consistent package of legislative and non-legislative proposals, such as recommendations and guidelines. We want the legislative proposals to stem from thorough analysis and refer to effective functioning of the single market freedoms at the time of the crisis. They must apply to, for example, streamlining and speeding-up the procedures of granting aid to the entrepreneurs, whose companies and production plants are located at the areas affected by a conflict or crisis

- notes Minister Waldemar Buda.

Polish – Czech economic cooperation

Czech Republic is one of the leading economic partners of Poland. In 2021, this country was ranked second in terms of share in the Polish export (5.9%) and seventh in terms of import (3.2%). Polish – Czech trading volume reached the value of approx. EUR 26 billion, including the Polish export of nearly 17 billion and import of more than 9 billion. The 2021 trade balance increased to EUR 7.8 billion.

Between January and March 2022, the trade exchange increased by almost 25%, provided that the increase in export was slightly higher compared with import (export of EUR 4.91 billion, import of EUR 2.67 billion). In the analysed period, the trade balance amounted to EUR 2.24 billion 

The cumulative value of the Polish direct investments to the Czech Republic as of the end of 2020 amounted to EUR 2.61 billion, which ranked Poland 12th among the largest investors on the Czech market (the leaders are: the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Austria and France). Czech is the third most popular country for the Polish investors. In 2020, the recorded inflow of Polish capital to Czech reached EUR 150 million.