The American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic (AmCham) has suggested twelve steps that could be taken in 2020 that would help the Czech Republic become a top ten EU economy by 2025. Adjusted for the progress of the past two years and the government's new innovation strategy, the new Letter on Priorities sets four strategic directions: high-tech manufacturing, innovative cities, government policies that drive innovation, and government as an competitive advantage. For each strategic direction, the letter recommends steps that would align the country's key assets- people, technology, infrastructure, and government- to these strategic goals.

COMMENTARY FROM ARTHUR BRAUN | The Court of Justice of the European Union recently published a decision in proceedings on a preliminary issue, stating that EU member states must require employers to record all employee working hours (C-55/18). This case involved a suit filed by a Spanish union organization in the banking industry, not exactly the traditional players in unions fighting against exploitation of the working classes. This decision did not receive wide publicity in the Czech Republic, but in Germany and elsewhere in Europe it did.

The Czech Republic has one of the longest and most complicated building procedures in the world and is ranked 156 out of 190 countries observed by The World Bank. Fortunately for real estate developers, the situation is slowly changing. Erwin Hanslik MRICS, Partner and CEE Head of Real Estate at Taylor Wessing talked to us about the legal and regulatory challenges investors and developers need to face in the Czech Republic.

• While most tertiary-educated adults in the Czech Republic hold a master’s degree, their employment advantage over those with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education is among the lowest across OECD countries.
• Total expenditure on primary to tertiary educational institutions is relatively low in the Czech Republic. Similarly to other OECD countries, the large majority of funding is publicly sourced.
• Teachers’ salaries in the Czech Republic are among the lowest across OECD countries and consistently below those of tertiary-educated adults at all levels of education.
• Vocational upper secondary education is attractive in the Czech Republic: Almost 7 out of 10 uppe secondary graduates obtained a vocational qualification in 2017 compared to 4 out of 10 on average across OECD countries.