Moravian-Silesian Region Has a Future

"What is the perspective of the Moravian-Silesian Region?"  Participants of the prestigious conference Hospodářské noviny Forum, held last Thursday in Ostrava, were trying to find the answer on this key issue. The event was held under the auspices of the Association of Industry and Transport, Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Association for the development of Moravian-Silesian Region. It was attended by
Environment Minister Tomáš Chalupa, the Regional governor Jaroslav Palas, Mayors of Ostrava and Karvina Petr Kajnar and Tomáš Hanzel, representatives of local governments and nonprofit organizations. Even representatives of major employers, led by Klaus-Dieter Beck, CEO of OKD Ostrava and Tapas Rajderkar, CEO of ArcelorMittal were present on this forum. Both companies were the main
partners of the event.

Environment - a key issue of discussion
A key issue, the conference dealt with, together with contributions from several speakers and listeners interested as well, was the relationship between industrial production and the environment. Representatives of public sector and politics were tried to find a balance between environmental measures and investments that make the region a better place to live, and the competitiveness of the
companies. All of this thanks to 40% share of industry put us the second fastest growing region in GDP in our country. Participants agreed that the current problems with air are caused in addition to industry in the region also by low-quality household heating fuel in old boilers and production in Poland with higher emission limits than in our country.

OKD indirectly gives jobs to thousands of other people
OKD's CEO Klaus-Dieter Beck in his presentation mentioned the connection of black coal mining and the world economy, growth of global population and energy consumption. He pointed to the increasing volume in the period of economic growth. He introduced the mining industry as an integral part of the prosperity of the country and the region, when he demonstrated on the specific example how
much raw material the average Czech will consume in his lifetime. Astonishment aroused tha fact, that in the caxe of brown and black coal it is about 352 tons. The mining industry remains an important employer, offering jobs to 52 000 people in the Czech Republic. Most of the jobs in the Moravian-Silesian region are naturally offered by OKD. But it's not just own employees of a mining company. "Approximately another 1,200 firms from whose we buy services, technology, spare parts, or give them work with our investment projects, we are
providing employment to thousands of other people in the region. Even our key customers, and not just ArcelorMittal, but also Dalkia, Třinecké železárny or ČEZ employ thousands of people in the region," Beck explained.

Educated people - the future of the region
K. D. Beck as well as T. Rajderkar emphasized the importance of technical education quality for the perspective of the region. "For the future prosperity, not only of our company but the entire region, we need highly qualified technically educated people. Therefore, we pay much attention to the cooperation with high schools and VŠB-TU University in Ostrava, which is historically a traditional breeding ground for mine engineers in the mining district. We want to attract students in addition to other benefits also by a certain job after graduation," Beck said. OKD, thanks to cooperation with SŠTasS in Karviná and High School in Havirov-Šumbark, renewed, after twenty years, mining apprenticeships. From the next year they are preparing open the high school study of mining with diploma in Karvina and try to develop cooperation with VŠB-TU Ostrava.

Marek Síbrt