Czech PM Eyes Business Ties With Philippines; Mulls Hiring More Filipino Workers

President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and Czech Republic Prime Minister Petr Fiala held discussions in Malacañang on Monday with the latter promising investments in agriculture and transportation sectors as well as the hiring of more Filipino workers in the Central European nation.

Fiala, the first European leader to make an official visit since President Marcos assumed office, came with several Czech businessmen in hopes of a "new start for successful cooperation" between Filipino and Czech firms.

"Our companies offer solutions in many fields, many areas, agriculture, aviation, transportation, or space technologies. Defense and security cooperation is very important in our relations," he said in a press statement released after the bilateral meeting with Marcos.

"I fully support the talks about delivering transport aircraft and other projects in the aviation sector," Fiala added.

The European leader also took an interest in the country's agricultural sector and said that Czech companies could provide technical assistance and expertise to the Philippine National Dairy Authority.

"Czech companies can also offer technologies for storing raw milk and its processing," he said.

On the issue of national defense, Fiala said the Czech company, Česká Zbrojovka, offers "extensive modernization" to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, including technology transfer.

At the start of his two-day official state visit to the Philippines on Monday, Fiala also revealed he is keen on providing more opportunities for Filipino workers to migrate to the Czech Republic.

"We also highly appreciate the Philippine system of recruiting workers for work in other countries. Czech companies are very satisfied with Philippine citizens. We are discussing the possibilities to expand migration for work," he said in this Inquirer report.

For his part, Marcos said the meeting with Fiala marked an "important milestone" in the 50 years of diplomatic ties between the Philippines and the Czech Republic.

"Prime Minister Fiala and I discussed a range of issues of mutual interest, including defense cooperation, trade and investment, university-to-university linkages, and labor cooperation. We also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common concern," he said.

The issue of the West Philippine Sea and the persisting war in Ukraine were also among the topics discussed by the two government officials.

"We had a very interesting exchange of views regarding regional and international issues including the West Philippine Sea and Cross Trade and the war in Ukraine amongst others," Marcos said in the joint press statement as cited in this GMA News report.

"We both emphasize our countries' shared commitment to democracy, human rights and the rule of law," Marcos added.