Czech Republic offers expertise to boost industries in Bengal

Czech Republic today offered its expertise to boost industrial development in West Bengal as part of its bid to strengthen bilateral ties with India.
The Czech Ambassador in India Miloslav Stasek, who led a six member trade delegation, today met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and state finance and industry minister Amit Mitra to discuss ways to cooperate for the betterment of trade and industry in the state.
After an hour-long meeting, Stasek said their presence in power, engineering, mining and machinery sectors were already there in India.
"We are ready to enter into cooperation or joint ventures to boost power, engineering, heavy industries, mining and machinery, aviation and tourism sectors where we have expertise of international repute," Stasek said.

"The state has vast resources in mining and minerals and we are ready to transfer technology for its exploration," he said.
To a question, Stasek also said the state could be benefited by connecting inaccessible areas with their small 19-seater aircraft.

"If offered, we are also keen on joint ventures in manufacturing of small arms in which the Czech Republic has a name in global market," he said.
Mitra said the Czech delegation also took keen interest about joining the upcoming industrial summit in Bengal on January 7 and 8 to showcase their expertise and express interest on extending cooperation to the state.

"We can also promote tourism in Bengal with more participation of tourists from the Czech Republic," Stasek added.
The Czech trade delegation was represented, among others, by representatives of the Doosan Skoda Power India, Hutni Projekt Frydek-Mistek, Vitkovice India Power and LET Aircraft Industries.