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The Czech government is sending a business delegation to Iran, the first such visit ever to take place. The trip should pave the way for boosting trade and facilitate agreements on investment protection and the abolition of double taxation by both Prague and Tehran.

Czech Railways has two years, writes daily Mladá fronta Dnes, to adapt long-term strategies to ensure continued profits and growth. Until now, the state-owned firm relied heavy on the sale of property as a financial buffer but that "well" will soon run dry at a time when debts at the firm are on a rise.

Commercial reverse flows of natural gas from Slovakia to Ukraine were officially launched on September 2 with Slovak prime minister Robert Fico and his Kiev counterpart, Arsenij Jaceňuk in attendance at the border site.

The state-owned postal firm Czech Post is seeking 1.7 billion crowns in state compensation for losses incurred through unprofitable services it is required to provide by law, the daily Hospodářské noviny reports. Part of the compensation should be covered with contributions from Czech Post’s competitors according to existing law. But they complain the sum is exaggerated, and say the payments would put their businesses at risk.

Friday saw major producers of spirits in the Czech Republic announce their half year results. While for many sales and profits have gone up, the general echo of the methanol scandal, during which 47 Czechs died of alcohol poisoning and the subsequent short-term prohibition two years ago, left marks that can still be felt. Czechs are wearier of buying hard alcohol and liquor producers have been forced to adapt to the change in demand.

Czech textiles firms have benefited significantly from the Czech National Bank’s intervention to weaken the country’s currency the crown last November. According to a report in Thursday’s edition of the financial daily Hospodářské noviny, manufacturers in the sector saw 12-percent year-on-year growth in the first half of 2014.

Up to 38 million crowns in incentives will be used in order to promote a direct air connection between Prague and China, Tomáš Neřold, spokesman for the Ministry of Transport told the Czech News Agency (Č TK) on Wednesday. The announcement came after a meeting between the ministers of transport from both of the respective countries and representatives of Czech Aeroholding, a state owned air transport group which includes Czech Airlines.

It has been ten years since products bearing the Fairtrade Certificate started being sold on the Czech market. The anniversary comes side by side news that 2013 was the best year for Fairtrade sales in the country so far. With Czechs having bought products worth 173 million crowns, retail sales went up 80 percent more than in 2012. Fairtrade continues to widen its reach and assortment across Czech retail stores and raise awareness of the mark through various campaigns. It also seems to be profiting from an emerging trend of more critical

Czech food exporters are bracing for the impact of Russia’s sweeping ban on food imports introduced in response to EU sanctions over Ukraine. In terms of agricultural commodities, Russia is the Czech Republic’s most significant export destination outside of the EU. Czech exports of food and agricultural commodities to Russia last year totalled 2.4 billion crowns and in particular dairy producers are now scrambling to find new outlets for their goods.

President Miloš Zeman suggested during a press conference following a meeting with representatives of Czech and Moravian Trade Unions Confederation (ČMKOS) on Thursday that the Czech National Bank may be devaluing the crown in order to avoid entering the Eurozone. Zeman has been critical of the national bank’s decision ever since it announced it was going ahead with the weak crown policy last autumn. But his comments have been dismissed by some economists.