Guest speech: Ambassador of Czech Republic, H.E. Mr. Jan Koukal

As a continuation of the EU Presidency - Guest Lecture Series of the IMC Export Department, under the auspices of the Chair for International, Legal and Global Political Studies, Prof. Dr. Anis Bajrektarevic invited H.E. Mr. Jan KOUKAL, current Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Austria.

After a very warm welcome and a brief introduction given by the Chairman Bajrektarevic, H.E. Ambassador Koukal opened his absorbing speech with the objective to give the IMC students and lecturers an insight into the priorities and future prospective of the Czech EU Presidency 2009. The whole talk was accompanied by a very enjoyable, as well as relaxed, atmosphere.

The first main issue discussed by Ambassador Koukal was the three E’s (Economy, Energy and European Union) which have before been the three G’s (Gas, Gaza and Georgia). The Ambassador gave us a brief summary of steps that have been taken at the end of the year 2008, as the EU Council conclusions of the full application of all internal market freedom. The actual market freedoms contain four scopes: the free movement of capital, services, workers and energy.

Following that interesting introduction Ambassador Koukal, who has served as a mayor of Prague 1993 to 1998 and is still a deputy in the parliament of the ruling right-wing political party, the Civic Democratic Party, in the Czech Republic, informed us about the idea of implementing a 5th movement - the freedom of knowledge, which would mean promoting EU research projects, as well as supporting educational projects, as in the point of view of the Ambassador Koukal human capital is the most valuable of all.

Furthermore the priorities for the Czech Republic in coherence with the EU in the world were discussed. As stated by our guest their priority is the Eastern European and Balkan partnership. With regards to this the Czech Republic is not only supporting Croatia to become a member of the European Union, as they are close to this step, but also Macedonia and Serbia by pushing them to reach the EU membership.

The next point reviewed was the good bilateral relations between the Czech Republic and Austria. According to Ambassador Koukal, who has prior worked at the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, there are many co-operations and investments in the economy of both sides, so the economic relationship can be seen as absolutely positive. At the moment there are but still there is some room left for improvement since the Czech Republic is trying to establish a network between research institutions and they have to put more interest on the educational side.

Based on the appeal of our host Prof. Dr. Anis Bajrektarevic, the final part of the content substantively and very informative two-hour lecture comprised the personal view of Ambassador Koukal on the G20 and the current financial crisis, as well as a very lively question and answer session in which questions, such as the monitoring of the radars or the first governmental break down since 1993 in the Czech Republic, have been addressed and answered by our guest H.E. Ambassador Jan KOUKAL.
In spite of the content-intensive and very comprehensive speech Ambassador Koukal accomplished to create a very familiar and relaxed atmosphere during his whole talk, which made it to an absolutely memorable event.

The official part of this extraordinary event was closed with a cocktail and a family photo, which was taken in the gorgeous inner courtyard of the IMC Krems, where the IMC students had the unique opportunity to address further questions to The Excellency in a friendly, relaxed and familiar atmosphere.

Summing up after the half-day visit to Krems, Ambassador and his assistant Dr. Jaroslav KNOT, Embassy Secretary for the Political and EU Affairs stated that they were very impressed by our faculty’s interest in European Union affairs. The Ambassador also complimented the commitment and knowledge of our students as could be evident throughout the questions and discussion with him.

As a possible follow up Prof. Bajrektarevic and the Ambassador discussed the Czech Republic as a venue for the IMC EXP planned focused double degree programs with the similar schools in Czech Republic this year.

The Guest Lecture with H.E. Ambassador Jan KOUKAL was the 62nd event organized under the auspices of the Chairman Prof. Dr. Anis Bajrektarevic. The next event will take place on the 2nd of April 2009, when Prof. Dr. Bajrektarevic is hosting Alexander Zmeyevskiy, the Russian Ambassador to the IAEA and other Vienna-based IOs.

Photos: L-M. Kronreif & H. Maglock
Text: V. Schwarzbraun (rev. A.B.)

Guest speech: Ambassador of Malaysia, H.E. Mr. Dato’ M. H. Arshad

As a continuation of the ASEAN guest-lecture series, the IMC Export under the auspices of the Chair for International Law and Global Political Studies, Prof. Dr. Anis Bajrektarevic invited Dato’ M. H. Arshad, Ambassador of Malaysia to Austria, to the IAEA and other Vienna-based IOs.

With the objective to give the IMC students and lecturers an understanding about Malaysia’s past and present geopolitical role in Asia and the rest of the world, Ambassador Arshad accompanied by two officers Mr. I. Salam, Minister Counsellor and Ms. O. Osman, 2nd Secretary centered his discourse on five main points.

“Today we are coming back home. Six years ago when I started with these events, the very first guest lecture was at that time Malaysian Ambassador. It’s my great pleasure to announce that after 60 successful events over past years we are returning to Malaysia today!”, with these words Chairman Bajrektarevic opened today’s guest lecture in the overcrowded PIA hall. Encouraged by warm welcome, Ambassador on his side managed to create a very relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. This general tone even added to the high quality of Ambassador Arshad’s speech and made this event not only one that will be remembered but also one that will be desired to come again.

H.E. Ambassador Arshad opened his intriguing talk with brief comments on the general situation of Malaysia. He started off mentioning the enormous cultural and religious diversity of his country and its sound economic development during the last 50 years. Ambassador then moved on to explain the changes in Malaysian foreign policy from pro-western anti-communist in the years between 1957-1969 towards non-alignment and neutrality from 1969 onwards.

Following that introduction Ambassador Arshad briefly spoke about social and economic policies that were realized after riots in the 1970s of native Malays, who protested against the ever growing economic power in “non-Malay” hands.

The next point discussed concerned the Austro-Malaysian bilateral relations As stated by our guest this field yet leaves a lot of room for improvements since Austria is a very EU focused country and tends to prioritize its relationship with Europe. However, regular official visits take place and trade between the two countries continues to grow.

With regards to scientific and educational exchange between Malaysia and Austria and the EU, respectively, Mr. Arshad proudly informed the audience that Malaysia has become a new centre of educational excellence, currently with 66,000 foreign students.

The subsequent part of the lecture was entirely devoted to the Asian financial crisis of the 1990s and Ambasador Arshad described its origin in Thailand, the role of foreign exchange speculators and its effects on Malaysia as well as on the rest of Asia. Unlike many other countries in these times of economic downturn, Malaysia did not opt for the IMF way out of the crisis but rather opted for the “unorthodox approach”. This approach basically consisted in taking own measures against the trouble such as fixing the national currency exchange rate, encouraging government spending and the establishment of Danaharta, an investment holding arm of the Government of Malaysia entrusted to hold and manage the non-performing loans of banks and commercial assets of the government and to undertake strategic investments.

According to our guest, many lessons were learned due to this crisis and these lessons also will help handling the current financial crisis which is, says Ambassador Arshad, not a global crisis, rather an American induced Wall Street crisis and one that affects all of us because of the global interdependence of countries.

The last part of the content-intensive two-hour lecture was devoted to a question and answer session in which students had the opportunity of addressing issues of specific interest like Singapore-Malaysian bilateral relations (and the water supply issue), disarmament, the situation on the Indian subcontinent, the Iran nuclear issue, etc.

Closing the official part of event with cocktail and family photo, the IMC students had additional opportunity to engage the eloquent and charming Malaysian delegation in substantive conversation in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

Although his speech was very comprehensive and substantive in content, His Excellency still managed to create a very relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. This general tone even added to the high quality of Ambassador Arshad’s speech and made this event not only to be well remembered but also one that will be desired to come soon again.

Summing up after the half-day visit to Krems, Ambassador and his delegation stated that they were very impressed by our faculty’s interest in ASEAN and Asian affairs. The Ambassador also complimented the commitment and knowledge of our students as could be evident throughout the questions and discussion with him.

As a possible follow up Prof. Bajrektarevic and the Ambassador discussed Kuala Lumpur as a venue for the IMC EXP planned focused seminar “Business Focus ASEAN” scheduled for late summer this year.

Besides this memorable event, it is worth of mentioning that the Malaysian Foreign Ministry has honoured the IMC by inviting its professor for a public lecture at the Malaysian Diplomatic Academy (IDFR). Late November 2008, prof. Bajrektarevic has addressed the senior diplomats of Malaysia and ASEAN countries in the Ministry’s historic TREATY ROOM by speaking on the subject of “Diplomacy of Sustainable Development”.

This was the 61st event organized under the auspices of the IL&GPS Chair. The next event falls under the EU Presidency series and is scheduled for Wednesday 25 March, when Prof. Bajrektarevic is hosting the Czech Ambassador HE. Jan Koukal. (PIA, Baroque Hall 09.30-11.00)

Photos: D. Schuler
Text: S. Albrecht (rev. A.B.)