P45 - Other Economic Systems: International Trade, Finance, Investment and AidReturn

The article deals with the economic dimension of the Czech Republic's official development assistance. It discusses that aid and trade need not act contradictorily; in fact, they may work complementarily. In particular, the study focuses on the Czech Republic's bilateral official development assistance towards Serbia, which shows synergic effects of development assistance and business interests. The first part of the paper is concerned with the various forms of private sector involvement in the Czech Republic's official development assistance. The second part describes the Czech Republic's official development assistance on the example of Serbia. First, this section concentrates on the Czech Republic's relationship towards the Western Balkans and its bilateral relationship with Serbia. Afterwards, it regards the particular projects implemented by Czech actors operating in the framework of the official development assistance. Specifically, it deals with three Aid for Trade projects carried out by the Czech Chamber of Commerce and two projects implemented by Czech companies in the region of Pešter/Sandžak and the municipality of Kruščica.