BUSINESS

We Have a Chance

to Be One of the Most Successful

Industrial Regions in Europe

The Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, the largest employee union in the country,

which unites employers and entrepreneurs, and is the strongest partner of the government in

the tripartite, has a newly elected president. His name is Jan Rafaj and he gave an interesting

interview to Radúz Macha, chairman of the editorial board of POSITIV Business & Style magazine.

Mr. Rafaj, first of all I would like to congratulate you

on your election as President of the Confederation of

Industry of the Czech Republic.

Is the Confederation of Industry really the strongest

voice of business with its indispensable position in

promoting its interests?

I am convinced that it is - both practically and formally.

The Confederation of Industry leads the largest

delegation of employers in the tripartite. We comment

as the main partner in the discussion and we also lead

the whole process of debate with the government

on behalf of the employers. The Confederation of

Industry prepares the most sophisticated documents for

the proposals and because of that we have gained a lot

of respect. However, there are still many companies that

do not realise they have the potential for even greater

success by being a member of the Confederation, rather

they are not proactive and only complain about what is

wrong. It is with these companies that we could improve

and have better expertise with.

should return more

“ Europe

to industry, and not be

so dependent on services.

”

After your election you set some key priorities, one

of them emphasising the Czech product. Can you

tell us more about this priority?

We need to increase the value of what is produced

in the Czech Republic. There are a lot of good

ideas being created here and we can help promote

higher wages and overall success. However, there

are many bureaucratic obstacles that prevent it and

sometimes the correct marketing is missing as well.

We also need to help the top products enter foreign

markets, remove barriers and motivate people not to

be afraid to move on. What goes wrong in business

should be taken as experience for future success.

Where do you stand on the subject so often referred

to today as the Green Deal?

The Green Deal is a huge challenge for the Czech

Republic and we have a large share of the industry.

22 ǀ POSITIV 2/2023

I believe what King Philip VI of Spain told us on

our recent visit is true. He said, “Europe should

return more to industry, and not be so dependent

on services.” We need a lot of new investments

and every sector should define what needs to be

done 20 years from now concerning technology

and carbon footprints. We also need to work on

protecting the internal market so that we are not

swamped by cheap and non-environmental friendly

products from Asia.

We can do all of that in the region

“then

we would be very successful.

If we manage to transform Karviná

and Bruntál, I am convinced that we

will be one of the most successful

industrial regions in all of Europe.

”

Was there also the establishment of a special energy

section among your proposals?

Yes, it was just in the last few days I fulfilled my promise.

We now have a constituent board of directors and

a new expert team for decarbonisation. All that

remains is to prepare documents for the government

and Brussels. Affordable energy prices are also very

important because otherwise we would not be

competitive.

How successful are we in digitalisation?

For us, it is the alpha and the omega and it will help us

to catch up with the West. Although it puts us back on

the starting line, we can succeed like Rohlík, Seznam

and many other companies in the IT sector.

What about the topic that speaks most to your

heart? The labour market. Can you tell us more

about it?

I have been working on it for eight years and have

identified three things that need to be addressed.

First, replace the drained labour market as quickly as

possible, preferably doing that with foreign labour.

We have prepared legal documents to amend

the legislation. There are excellent young people