Prime Minister Fischer greeted distinguished Conference guests with some recent Czech history and statistics

Monday 12th October

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Jan Fischer gave a short talk on the occasion of a Gala dinner organized by the Forum 2000 Foundation on the fringes of the 13th annual Conference. Prime Minister Fischer spoke in a very relaxed manner, briefly going over Czech history from the year 1989, mentioning some of the problems encountered along the way, while creating a humorous atmosphere among the guests on several occasions.

The Executive Director of Forum 2000, Oldřich Černý, introduced the Prime Minister as a perfect example of his profession: born into a family of statisticians, he studied statistics and econometrics, only to later accept a job in the Federal Statistics Office. In the middle of an economic and political crisis, he was called upon to leave his role as Director of the Czech Statistical Office and take up the new position as Prime Minister earlier this year. And, according to statistics, he has been rated well: he is perceived as the second best performing Prime Minister of the Czech Republic.

In front of a culturally diverse audience, Prime Minister Fischer spoke about the present and recent past of the Czech Republic, focussing on three key aspects: politics; the business environment; and society, as they have evolved since the Velvet Revolution in 1989.

“Young Czechs, born after this date, do not differ from their Western counterparts”, stated the Prime Minister, “we have become a normal European country,” referencing European Commission statistics.

But while the Czech business sphere has also adapted quickly to the new environment, the political development has been comparatively slow. “Statistics show,” highlighted Prime Minister Fischer again, followed by a small laughter, “that the Czech entrepreneurs have demonstrated the ability to seize the approaching opportunities.”  All of this in spite of numerous obstacles, including bureaucracy, high taxes, and considerable corruption.

However politicians have failed to capitalise on this economic boom and have not pushed for all of the necessary reforms. But now that the recession has hit the world and the Czech Republic along with it, these reforms are becoming ever more necessary and also more difficult to implement. “Don’t put off what you can do today,” Prime Minister Fischer quoted a famous Czech proverb.

“One year is long enough to do some damage,” he said, but he added that a year is also enough to do some good, dismissing all possible claims that he was just a “caretaking” Prime Minister with no real program or responsibility. 
In the atmosphere of declining trust in democratic systems, Prime Minister Fischer called for a joining of forces to promote responsibility and rationality in the EU and in all other corners of the planet. “Public servants, politicians who used to be public servants, intellectuals, journalists...”,  all the leaders and members of society should consider how they can contribute. Strong consensus and strong commitment to reform is necessary these days, he concluded.  And he did not mention any more statistics.