Lubomír Zaorálek : “We want to use Mauritius as a platform for future operations in Africa”

The Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs was recently in Mauritius along with a business delegation to look for commercial and investment opportunities. In an interview to Business Magazine, he talks about new avenues of cooperation between the two countries.

BUSINESSMAG. What is the purpose of your visit to Mauritius?

Mauritius is our final goal. We are finishing our journey in Africa. We have been to Nairobi in Ken-ya and Maputo in Mozambique. And now we have reached Mauritius. The reason is that we feel we must reach out for new partners.

For Czech Republic, it is a must to find new partners. We want to diversify our economy and our trade. It took too much time between now and the last visit of a Czech Foreign Minister to Mauritius which happened in 1999. During all that time, the Czech Republic was concentra-ting on getting in the European Union and we were focusing on relationships with our European neighbours and partners. But now, we find that this is not enough for the future. We are trying to find a sustainable way to get over the financial crisis that we are still suffering from. We are looking forward to diversify our economy and our markets so that we are less fragile in the future. Just like with Europe, we seek intricate relationships with the whole world.

BUSINESSMAG. After a long period of stagnation, how is the Czech economy faring?

Our economic growth has its sources in energy production. Fifteen years ago, we were gro-wing at a pace of 5-6%. But after the economic crisis of 2007, we experienced a long period of stagnation. We have a new government in place since one year and a half. The last figures of growth show a growth rate of 4.2%. It is the highest growth fi-gures in the whole of Europe. We would like to keep these figures high because it is a prerequisite for the creation of new industrial backbones which would certainly be different to what it was 15 years ago. We have to find new areas of production and also new partners. That is why it is important to find partners in Kenya, Mozambique and Mauritius.

BUSINESSMAG. Why did you choose Mauritius to reach the African market instead of a larger country?

When we were looking at Africa, it became clear to us that Mauritius has special recommendations from international agencies. Thanks to your political and economic stability, you were able to keep economic growth despite the economic crisis.

Mauritius may become a platform for us because you already have a business-friendly environ-ment here. It might be more complicated to start in Mozambique. We may actually go to Mozambique but use Mauritius as a platform in the process.

BUSINESSMAG. What are the areas where there are high prospects for trade between Czech Republic and Mauritius?

We can speak about energy production, electronic surveillance, machinery for agriculture. I have information that there are some interests regarding air navigation systems and training of air traffic controllers. There are very good negotiations and interest in this field from the Mauritian side. On the other side, Czech Republic focuses on the automotive industry and aviation industry. Your businessmen are very flexible. I think we can start business with them very quickly.