AmCham letter to Ministry of Labor on Employment of Specialists – non-EU Nationals
The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs introduced recently new measures related to the employment of foreigners-3rd country nationals that increase administrative burden on businesses. A letter explaining the impact of the newly introduced measures on the business community is available. The Czech Radio program covering the topic, including AmCham position (Weston Stacey) is available here.
Dr. Ing. Jaromír Drábek
Minister
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic
Na Poříčním právu 1/376
128 01 Praha 2
Dear Mr. Drábek
We write in support of the initiative to review the Czech Republic’s immigration policies for experts, executives and investors from non-EU countries. We believe that amending current policies would significantly help to establish the country as a hub for companies and as a center for high-tech manufacturing and research. While we are cognizant that any change in policy must take into account the security concerns raised by the Ministry of the Interior, we believe those issues can be addressed sufficiently, and that the risks posed by a targeted and more liberal immigration policy would be minimal.
The Czech Republic is already one of the most sophisticated production environments in the world, and the capabilities of its workforce are equally advanced. The challenge for the country will be to find new ways to grow. We believe that growth will come from an accelerated development of Prague as a hub for headquarters and other corporate functions, and from establishing the Brno-Ostrava-Prague triangle as a primary area for research in Europe. Both of those objectives require the internationalization of the environment: by definition a corporate hub must be able to attract executives from around the world and the Czech Republic is too small a talent pool (MIT and other US research hubs draw from a global talent pool) to sustain worldclass research over generations of researchers.
We believe a more liberal immigration policy that is tailored to make it easier to attract the talent needed to achieve these economic objectives will not deprive Czechs of good jobs, but will actually create more and better paying jobs for the citizens of this country, because it will lead to more investment and the expansion of business activities here. Furthermore, the expertise and capabilities introduced into the country by these foreign nationals could be transferred through training programs and the educational system, thereby increasing this country’s economic capability.
The American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic is ready to assist your Ministry develop such an immigration policy. We hope you agree with such a proposal, and that we will have the honor of working with your colleagues in the coming weeks.
Sincerely,
Weston Stacey
výkonný ředitel
Americká obchodní komora v ČR
CC: RNDr. Petr Nečas, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
MUDr. Martin Kuba, Minister of Industry and Trade
Karel Schwarzenberg, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mgr. Karel Machotka, Deputy Minister of Labor for Labor Market
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