Swedish king, industry, science reps meet Czech businesspeople

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and representatives of the Swedish industry and research held talks with Czech PM Petr Necas and President Vaclav Klaus and they met Czech businesspeople today  / May 9/.

The Swedish delegation is interested in cooperation with Czechs in IT, medicine, nanotechnologies and the Galileo European navigation system, the embassy said.

The Swedish king arrived in the Czech Republic along with a mission of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) the patron of which he is.

The IVA has organised similar foreign trips to various countries since 1984.

"The Czech Republic is Sweden's second largest trading partner out of the new EU countries, and about 200 Swedish companies are currently represented in this country," the Swedish embassy said.

According to the embassy's information, Carl XVI Gustaf is not on an official visit to the Czech Republic.

"His Majesty is a full-fledged member of the delegation and he has no special programme," the embassy noted.

The Swedish King and his wife, Queen Silvia, paid an official visit to the Czech Republic 17 years ago.

Nevertheless, Carl XVI Gustaf met Czech President Vaclav Klaus at Prague Castle, the presidential seat, today. Apart from talks with the Swedish delegation, they had a 30-minute tete-a-tete meeting.

The Swedish king, who will stay in the Czech Republic until Friday, then look round St Vitus Cathedral at the castle complex.

Sweden is immensely interested in cooperation in the area of research and development, in particular in the Galileo project, said Leif Johansson, head of the Swedish delegation.

Czech Confederation of Industry President Jaroslav Hanak said the Swedish delegation had brought a number of impulses for cooperation in IT, nanotechnologies, satellite navigation and health care.

The delegation comprises representatives of Swedish universities in Stockholm and Lulea, the Royal Technological Institute (KTH), the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova), the State Institute of Drug Control, as well as a number of firms, including those dealing with nanotechnologies, the Volvo car-maker and the Saab company president.

The Saab arms-maker is striving for the Czech Republic to keep the Jas-39 Gripen supersonic fighters that it has leased from Sweden until 2015.

The Czech government announced it would like to make a decision on its air force by June.

However, Swedish Embassy Counsellor Rolf Ericsson said the Swedish government had charged the Defence Ministry with negotiating on Gripens and that the Royal Academy's mission focused on other topics, in particular on strategic outlooks in the field of industry, technology and science.

Today's talks with Necas primarily dealt with long-term plans in research and innovations and not with specific issues, such as Gripens, Ericsson said.

The negotiations on the Gripens' future have been underway for some time regardless of the Swedish king's visit to the Czech Republic, Pavel Bulant, head of the Defence Ministry's armament section, said.

The 30-member Swedish delegation is also to meet representatives of the Czech Science Academy (AV) and the Czech Technical University (CVUT). It will visit the AERO Vodochody aircraft producer and other Czech companies.