Stammtisch
Monday, November 7 2022
5 PM - 9.30 PM
Prague
On Monday, 7 November 2022, the Association for Foreign Investment - AFI held its fifth Stammtisch meeting at the V Zátiší restaurant, with Ivan Bartoš, Minister for Regional Development and Deputy Prime Minister for Digitalization of the Czech Republic, as the main guest. The event was very well attended by several honorary members of AFI, representatives of AFI partner companies and the state agency CzechInvest. The discussion covered partial topics that fall under the responsibility of the Minister or are topical at government level.
Ivan Bartoš began by summarising his professional experience both in the Czech Republic and abroad, including the period before he entered the Czech political arena. He described his current activities as well as current decision-making processes concerning his ministry, government, or the Czech Presidency of the European Union, which are influenced by current events at the highest level of the Czech and world political scene.
The digitalisation of public administration was one of the key themes that emerged throughout the evening. Minister Ivan Bartoš explained how digitalization will advance the state from an administrative and financial point of view and what savings it will bring in the future. He explained the pitfalls faced in dealing with digitalization. These include the IT literacy of citizens, which varies by generation and education, which is a problem for the full-scale application of digitisation, which is supposed to eliminate redundant bureaucratic problems.
Another area that was discussed was the approval of the amendment to the Construction Act and its future functionality and integration into the system. In particular, the details of the amendment regarding the approval of building permits, the responsibility and hierarchy of decision-making at the city level or the unified state apparatus, and the practical introduction of a "one stamp" resolution that would solve bureaucracy and the complexity for applicants for building permits were discussed.
In the discussion, moderated by Kamil Blažek, Chairman of the Association for Foreign Investment - AFI, Minister Ivan Bartos responsibly answered all questions comprehensively and with detailed knowledge.
We would like to thank our guests for accepting the invitation, all participants for their presence and our supporting partner V Zátiší restaurant for the excellent dinner and service. This fifth Stammtisch was the final this year.
We look forward to the gatherings that await us in 2023.