Asia. A place of new chances.

A selection of 30 Czech entepreneurs representing their companies went on a business trip through Singapore, Thailand and India. You may have noticed it thanks to a coverage by Czech TV and other media.

Among those companies was, surprise, surprise, none other than LIKO-S, represented by our very own Jan Musil, Director of the Interiors Division.

We have been developing activities in India for several years and saw this as an opportunity to improve, learn new things and continue to innovate our products for our customers. Another equally important opportunity was to learn how to further strengthen mutual relations with India and other countries. In short, a path towards knowledge. So, learn with us...

 "We set off on Sunday night. Two government airplanes stood ready on the tarmac to fly all of us (35 Czech companies, Minister of Industry - Mrs. Nováková, and the Prime Minister - Andrej Babiš) to our destination. The Prime Minister and his delegation flew in one of the aircraft and the rest of us in the other. During a brief stopover in Delhi, the Czech ambassador to India and our good friend Mr. Hovorka and his wife welcomed us. After arriving in Singapore, we were accommodated. I was subsequently very pleased to be selected as one of the 10 Czech entrepreneurs to accompany our Prime Minister, Mr. Babiš, to a gala dinner with the Prime Minister of Singapore. Singapore's top officials, along with representatives of top local businesses, were also in attendance at the event. In short, it was an evening full of experience and making acquaintances...

The next day, we completed the programme in Singapore. In the morning, the Singapore-Czech Business Forum took place, during which our government officials gave speeches, which was followed by B2B meetings with potential Singaporean partners. The Czech entrepreneurs in the delegation subsequently met up with our Prime Minister and Minister of Industry. Together with several companies operating in India, we discussed support for our Czech Industrial Cluster project, which you may have already heard about in connection with us. In the evening, we flew to Bangkok to continue the next day!

The fourth day and second stop on the journey of the Czech mission - pulsating Bangkok. The business delegation headed by the Minister of Industry started the day with negotiations with the Thai governmental organisation supporting foreign investments. I used the afternoon to negotiate with local companies involved in interior design and office fit-outs. I was very happy because the Thais showed a great deal of interest in our products and there are beautiful administrative buildings currently being built. With regards to availability from India, we are planning to produce partitions for local orders at our Bangalore branch. We are already looking forward to the first projects!

Everything was gaining momentum. After Bangkok, we flew to the state of Gujarat in a special Indian government aircraft. Gujarat is the native town of the present Indian Prime Minister Modi and for this reason a global summit Vibrant Gujarat was held there. This conference was attended by state leaders from all over the world including Modi. Our business delegation headed by the Prime Minister was lucky to be there. After the conference, I took part in a meeting with the president of the state of Gujarat and then presented our experiences in India, as well as of the Czech Industrial Cluster project, at the Czech-India Business Forum. It seems unbelievable, but the Czech Industrial Cluster has become a reality and we are very pleased by the fact that it is supported by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Industry.

I am delighted that the entire mission was challenging, but very successful and helped us to discover further business opportunities in South-East Asia. Of course, we were also very much supported by the participation of the Prime Minister, Andrej Babiš, and the Minister of Industry, Mrs. Nováková, who had a really busy schedule from the early morning until late at night and who at all times intensively promoted the interests of Czech companies. In Asia, the support of government officials is greatly valued, so we were received with a warm welcome everywhere. I am very grateful that I could take part in this unique journey and represent LIKO-S.

You can see more pictures of the trip in search of knowledge in the gallery below...