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The state-owned Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam has opened its first office in the European Union here in the Czech Republic. Located in Prague’s upmarket Vinohrady district, the BIDV office is not a full-fledged branch, as the bank is yet to receive a licence from the Czech central bank. RP sat down with Mr Ngo Minh Khoa who heads the BIDV’s Prague office, to discuss the bank’s expansion to Europe, its strategy in attracting new clients here, and its plans for the future. We began by asking Mr Ngo why they chose to come to the Czech

Economically speaking, the year 2012 was a difficult one for the Czechs. The country’s economy, heavily dependent on exports to the eurozone, is according to most estimates set for a contraction of around one percent. Wavering demand from the euro area along with weak and fading domestic spending are considered the main reasons behind the decline, not helped by the government’s austerity and tax hikes. In 2013, the eurozone is generally expected to return to moderate growth – but will this be enough to revive the Czech economy as well? That’s a

With Christmas just around the corner, a search is underway in many households’ attics or basements for ornaments that will – in due time – decorate the Christmas tree. In many families, trees will be adorned with the colourful glass globes, spikes, figurines and other baubles whose tradition in the Czech Republic goes back to the times of the Great Depression. In this edition of Marketplace, we follow the story of Ozdoba CZ, one of the oldest Czech producers of glass Christmas ornaments

A pilot cargo train recently set a new record for covering the vast distance between China and the Czech Republic. The train, carrying 50 containers with computer parts arrived in the Czech city of Pardubice just 16 days after it set out from central China. Will more such trains follow in the near future? And does it mean that trans-Asian railway transport is now competitive with deep see routes?

The Czech economy has now been in recession for 15 months, which is the longest period since the late 1990s. The ongoing crisis in the eurozone, low household demand as well as the government’s austerity measures are all considered to be the major factors behind the faltering economy. Last week, the Prague-based Banking Institute – College of Banking held a conference focusing on ways of restarting economic growth. One of the keynote speakers was Jens Arnold, a senior economist at the international economic organization OECD. He suggested that raising

At the turn of the 20th century, Lázně Kyselka, just outside Karlovy Vary in western Bohemia, was a fashionable spa resort. Today, it is a ruin on the verge of total collapse. Kyselka suffered decades of neglect followed by a chaotic privatisation of the 1990s that only brought more disregard for its historic value. But recently, at long last, new hope appeared for the derelict 19th century spa complex, after a deal was reached between the various owners of the premises to try and save it.

The Czech Republic annually spends some 430 million crowns, or more than 22 million US dollars, on foreign development aid which is much less than some of the richest countries provide. But a new study by the Prague-based CERGE-EI institute looks at the issue from a different angle: using the methodology of the Commitment to Development Aid Index, as deigned by the US Centre for Global Development, the study compared the Czech Republic to 22 most developed countries and found that Czech aid programmes ranked 20th, ahead of Switzerland, Japan and

The annual international conference USA and European Union Days, which took place in Prague earlier this month, focused this year among other issues on the recent European currency and budgetary crisis, as well as on the economic situation in the US. Czech Radio’s Václav Sochor spoke to two former US secretaries of the treasury under the Clinton administration, Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers, about their views on the ongoing crisis in the Eurozone, and their country’s approach to it.

Last weekend saw the third annual For Toys fair held at Prague’s Letňany featuring children’s products. One of the focuses was highlighting creative and safe toys, from simple building block systems for toddlers to more complex games for kids. Teens also were included with the very latest in electronic consoles and interactive games.

The fate of one of the Czech government’s key reforms – an overhaul of the country’s pension system – is uncertain. The bulk of the reform legislation had already been approved and come into effect which means that in January 2013 people will have the right to set up individual pension accounts. But President Václav Klaus this week vetoed two bills necessary for the implementation of the new system. So what does Mr Klaus’ veto mean for the future of the pension reform and where does it leave the emerging private pension funds? These are some of