Officials Meet in Brno for Sixth Round of U.S.-Czech Economic and Commercial Dialogue
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 11, 2023
Contact: Office of Public Affairs
Email: publicaffairs@trade.gov
Phone: 202-482-3809
BRNO, Czech Republic –The Czech Republic’s Director General of the European Union and Foreign Trade Section, David Müller, and U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Europe and Eurasia, David De Falco, led the sixth round of the Economic and Commercial Dialogue between the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade and the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) on Tuesday, Oct. 10.
The dialogue, a key government-to-government platform to discuss trade and commercial issues, resumed after a four-year hiatus on the sidelines of the International Engineering Fair in Brno, one of the largest trade shows in the region. During the sixth round, Commerce and Ministry of Industry and Trade experts addressed critical issues impacting current geopolitical affairs, including Russia’s aggression in Ukraine; discussed avenues to bolster bilateral trade and investment; and identified further areas for increased commercial cooperation between the United States and the Czech Republic.
The two countries have a long-standing close and productive partnership, with the United States being the Czech Republic’s largest trading partner outside of Europe – as evidenced by more than twenty years of increased two-way trade. Recent events such as the invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent energy crisis have precipitated closer U.S.-Czech commercial ties and increased cooperation.
This year’s dialogue provided a unique opportunity to take stock of the state of Czech-U.S. economic relations and offered insights into how to strengthen the transatlantic business exchange. The bilateral engagement included insightful exchanges on critical topics including digital transformation, energy diversification, and emerging tech deployment. Both Deputy Assistant Secretary De Falco and Director General Müller stressed that now—more than ever—collaboration between like-minded partners and trusted allies is essential. The two officials reaffirmed their commitment to an annual Economic and Commercial Dialogue and tentatively agreed to host the seventh round next year in the United States.
“2023 has been a year of economic recovery for both the United States and our European allies,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary De Falco. “Resuming the U.S.-Czech Economic and Commercial Dialogue is a crucial step in strengthening bilateral and transatlantic trade and investment, advancing shared priorities, and overcoming challenges together.”
“Recent global events have shown again how critical it is to work with reliable and long-term partners, the United States and the Czech Republic have been close allies for a long time,” said Director General Müller. “I am very pleased that we have successfully resumed the Economic and Commercial Dialogue by welcoming Deputy Assistant Secretary David De Falco to Brno, which is one of the key innovation centers in our country. The dialogue has been a great opportunity to discuss our shared priorities that will assist our businesses expand into the United States and the Czech Republic.”
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