| Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I am delighted to be here in Prague today to open formally the British Government's All British Trade Fair and Seminar programme known as "Britain Means Business". This event is the highlight of our 12 month Campaign of commercial activities in the Czech Republic. The aim of "Opportunity Czech Republic" is to increase British trade with and investment in your country and further the excellent relations we already have. I am delighted to be joined today by Mr Mladek.
The British Government has designated the Czech Republic one of only 15 markets globally for special promotion. Since the Campaign began, we have been actively promoting your country as an excellent market to do business with through a series of road-shows in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Simultaneously, the Embassy has undertaken regional tours throughout the Czech Republic to spread the word about British commercial expertise.
There are over 300 British companies represented in this market. British companies are the fifth largest investor here but we feel there should be more. And the message is getting through. The 100 British companies that are here today are hard evidence of the fact that Britain really does mean business. Additionally, the levels of interest in the Czech Republic from the UK have never been higher. Our trade in the first six months of this year is up by 24% on the same period last year and trade from your country has increased by 35%. CzechInvest has told me that over 45% of all its enquiries now come out of the UK and the Embassy Commercial team knows of more than 50 British companies actively considering an investment here. The interest comes from companies active in a wide range of sectors and companies of all different sizes. I am particularly pleased to see that there are lots of SMEs exhibiting here today. In the UK, we have seen that SMEs play a key role in generating jobs and wealth. I am sure it will be the same in the Czech Republic too.
"Britain Means Business" is the single largest commercial activity ever undertaken by the British Government in the Czech Republic and is a strong message that we value your business, we value co-operation with you and we look forward eagerly to you becoming a full Member of the EU. I very much hope that everyone involved in the event from the exhibitors, to the Czech companies they meet, to those who attend the seminars, finds benefit from coming here and that new partnerships are formed and new friendships made."
I now declare "Britain Means Business" officially open.
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