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PM Gross calls for mandatory private retirement plans, OECD says social mobility in the Czech Republic stagnant due to limited access to higher education, City of Ostrava begins spending 100m from bond issue, and FinMin expects GDP of 3.2 pct next year, 10.4 pct unemployment.

This week CzechInvest, the government agency charged with attracting investment and business development, released its mid-year report on its activities. The agency's data show that during the first half of 2004, there was over a 100-percent increase in the number of projects brought about with the help of CzechInvest, compared to the same period last year, and the country is rapidly moving toward a "knowledge economy."

The Czech Republic has become a magnet for Japanese investments, especially in the automotive industry. Maida Agovic spoke to Mr. Masatake Enomoto, the President of the Toyota Peugeot Citroen Automobile company which has invested close to EUR 1.5 billion in their new factory in Kolin, creating 3,000 new jobs. Maida Agovic has been finding out more about investment from the Far East and the Czech production of new Toyota, Peugeot, and Citroen small cars.

Pensions slip below ILO ratio, Government approves outline of 2005 budget, Prague international airport shows record number of travellers, Austria's Magna Steyer may locate EUR 400m plant in Czech Republic.

Central Europe has become an attractive location for multinational companies' back offices, or support centres and the Czech Republic has benefited from outsourcing by investors abroad. This week, the international energy company ExxonMobil opened a global Business Support Centre in Prague, which will employ 300 people, offering IT, accounting and other customer support services for European clients, but could create as many as 1300 jobs within a few years' time.

Cabinet fails to agree on 2005 budget, FinMin seeks advice on trimming public work force, EU okays CSOB's state guarantees but not to GE Capital, and crown nears all-time high against the U.S. dollar.

European Union finance ministers this week gave the Czech Republic an official "slap on the wrist" for running excessive budget deficits, but have approved the Czech finance ministry's plan to rectify the situation.

Budget deficit twice that which analysts had predicted, FinMin revises GDP growth estimate, Ernst & Young notes fall in CEE investment, Czech Railways to auction off property.

Taiwanese to build 20bn euro plant in Ostrava, CSA seeks to lure home Americans of Eastern European decent, Polish venture capital group opens Prague office, and the value of Czech striker Baros up five-fold

For the past decade, unstable governance by de facto minority rule has marked the Czech political landscape. Head research analyst Jan Schiesser of the Atlantik brokerage says a caretaker government may now be the only way to proceed with much-needed — but politically painful — economic reforms.