Czech Republic-India relations have moved forward speedily in the right direction over the past few years. Would it be alright to suggest that they are at an all-time high, especially after the visit of President Kovind to your country in September 2018?

Yes, they did, but I have to say that our relations were very good for quite some time now. Of course, there are some ups and downs and we could say that now we’re up. Visit of the Hon’ble President Kovind was a very proud moment in the history of our relations and I hope I can say it was a success. But just as you indicate – it was a peak of years of improvements to our relations. Tip of the iceberg, so to say. But there were times in history when our relations were in an even higher spot, we still have a lot to do.

What has been the Czech Republic’s experience in Circular Economy?

The Czech Republic, as most of the countries in the world, faces the problems with waste management and pollution. Fortunately, there is a lot of people in the Czech Republic, who decided to do something about it. Many companies now follow the path of the circular economy, not just from the ecological point of view, but also from the economic one. I can proudly say, that we have some extraordinary companies in this field, companies like ERC-TECH or NAFIGATE, an inventor of a bioplastic called Hydal. And that’s not all, the Czech Republic is also home to one of the most influential NGO in the field of circular economics – Institute of the Circular Economy INCIEN. This great organisation is now working together with the EU legislators to bring new legislation in the whole EU, to make using these new ideas simpler and more efficient for our businesses and governments. And I believe that with this kind of background and support, there will be more and more companies in this field and lots of them will come to India to cooperate and do business with local companies.