Confederation of Industry calls on govt to support investments

The Confederation of Industry called on the government to support corporate and public investment, stimulate innovations and accelerate digital transformation of companies and the state, confederation head Jaroslav Hanak told journalists after a meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Babis.

Confederation representatives presented Babis with a "decalogue" of measures for economic renewal and long-term growth. Support of science, research and investments will be of key importance for the economic restart, Hanak said. Surveys conducted by the Confederation of Industry have shown that in the current situation companies will money for innovations and for continuation of cooperation with research organisation.

"It is important for the state to increase the amount of funds provided for research and development from national sources. At least the Industry and Trade Ministry's programme TREND should get Kc1bn-2bn more and the National Centre of Competence Kc1bn more. Without innovations, the Czech economy cannot thrive," HAnak said. In cooperation with the Finance Ministry, the Confederation has prepared several tax measures to motivate firms to resume investment activities.

"Private investments form the basis of long-term economic growth, so it is necessary for the state to create suitable environment for them," Confederation board member Andrea Gontkovicova said. According to the Confederation, the government should support investments in digitisation and cyber security, which could improve the resilience of small and medium-sized enterprises against crisis and their competitiveness.

In addition, the state should accelerate the creation of the necessary digital infrastructure and extend the offer of its digital services. "Our future lies in digital transformation. We need to lay foundations of an economy based on data, where each product is surrounded by an eco-system of digital services," Confederation vice-president Milena Jaburkova said.

Hanak and Babis disagreed on the issue of employment of foreign workers and euro adoption. "We defend euro because it helps exporters," Hanak said. The Confederation of Industry says consistently that the domestic labour market should be more flexible. The state should support short-time work and new ways of work organisations, such as remote work. It is also necessary to lower barriers for hiring domestic and foreign workers, it says.

Source: ČTK

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