World Bank marks Czech Republic's graduation to 'developed' status

[28-02-2006] By Jan Velinger

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This Tuesday the President of the World Bank Paul Wolfowitz is in Prague to mark an important shift in how the Czech Republic is viewed. Until now, the country was officially labelled a developing country; since the fall of communism in 1989 it has been a beneficiary of World Bank funds that have had a profound impact on the country's transformation to a market economy and becoming a full-fledged democracy. Now, on February 28th, the Czech Republic officially graduates to 'developed'. That has been a long-time coming, agreed formally a year ago, and is of course largely symbolic. But, the shift will also have some significant effects.

President of the World Bank Paul Wolfowitz and the Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek, photo: CTK

Jan Velinger spoke to economist Marketa Sichtarova just a little while ago:

"I suppose this is just a symbolic act, because in reality the Czech Republic is already a part of the European Union, which means it is already quite 'developed'. This act will probably have no immediate impact on the public. The most immediate for the country will be the fact that the country cannot receive further funds from the World Bank, on the contrary it will now itself have to contribute to less-developed countries."

The Czech Republic shifting from beneficiary to provider bringing with it new responsibility, are there positive effects though from the Czech Republic receiving 'developed' status?

Photo: European Commission

"The Czech Republic can receive a better-looking 'label' on international markets, foreign trade. If Czech companies will be able to successfully market the fact that the Czech Republic has graduated then their goods may be better 'sellable' abroad, leading to higher profits. [But there's another interesting point]: the Czech Republic has a good combination of two factors: first, it is a developed country but it still has a very cheap work force, and that's not a very common combination in a single country. For foreign capital and direct foreign investment this remains a good combination. As a result of the new World Bank rating the Czech Republic [will likely] receive more foreign direct investment in future years."

Also in this edition:

Politicians' wives on campaign billboards

The wife of Social Democrat Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek, Zuzana Paroubkova, says that she is willing to participate in the upcoming election campaign. If she does, she won't be alone: the head of the main opposition party, the Civic Democrats, has already made it clear his wife will appear with him on billboards around the country. But why have the two leaders hit upon this kind of campaign, which doesn't have much precedent in the Czech Republic?

"Golden" Neumannova returns home victorious

Monday marked the return of one of the Czech Republic's greatest sporting heroines, as Katerina Neumannova, the holder of the country's only gold medal in the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, finally arrived back in Prague. Much excitement surrounded her homecoming, with Neumannova, who undoubtedly provided the jewel in the crown for this year's Czech Olympic team, having achieved both silver in the Women's 15km pursuit and gold in the Women's 30km cross country skiing events. Chris Jarrett spoke to Neumannova about her recent success and plans for the future:

Czech Footballer of Year Petr Cech already looking forward to summer World Cup

The Czech Republic and Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has just been named Czech Footballer of the Year for the first time. The award is the latest in a very impressive series of records and other achievements for Cech, who is still only 23. Like the rest of the Czech squad he is currently in Prague preparing for a friendly against Turkey on Wednesday. Before the game, and before Monday's Footballer of the Year awards, I asked Petr Cech how much - with three months till kick-off - this summer's World Cup is on his mind.

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