‘The Pilsen Region and Upper Palatinate - Strong Partners in the Heart of Europe’ is the name of the project introduced by the representatives of both regions at the Bavarian Representation in Brussels on Thursday 12 September, 2019. The event was attended by more than 200 visitors, and the program also included performances by musicians from the Upper Palatinate and the Pilsen Region.
The joint ten years of work in the ‘Upper Palatinate and Pilsen Region: Strong Partners in the heart of Europe’ project have brought many successful events, some of which were also mentioned during moderated discussion. At the beginning, the main representatives of both regions got the floor – President of the Region Josef Bernard spoke for the Pilsen Region, President of the Regional Parliament Franz Löffler and President of the Upper Palatinate Axel Bartelt spoke for the Upper Palatinate.
“After the fall of communism, we experienced a political and cultural revolution. If I look back five hundred years ago, we have experienced the most dynamic development in the last thirty years. I consider the development of economy as the most dynamic process, there were big changes thirty years ago, and I dare say that we have managed them successfully. Prosperous companies and investment from Germany are
a proof of it. Czech companies made a great effort to survive and adapt. What I evaluate most, however, is the emergence of small successful businesses, which started up in garages," said President of the Region Josef Bernard in response to the question, what he thinks of the development of the region after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
The proof of his words is, for example, the Duratec company, based in the Pilsen Region. In Brussels, the company presented a special road bike which weighs slightly over 6 kg and the Duratec Phantom frame Duratec Phantom is made of carbon by special weldless technology. Another unique feature of the region in Brussels was LUKA EV car from MW Motors based in Štěnovice. It is the first mass produced car with electric engines built in the wheel hubs.
Representatives of institutions from the Czech Republic and Germany presented their successful innovation, economy, tourism, culture and cross-border cooperation projects. One of the most successful projects is called the ‘Golden Trail - a network of hiking trails on the Green Roof of Europe’. The aim of the project was to create a parallel footpath in the Pilsen and South Bohemian Regions and connect it to the Golden Trail in Bavaria. All participants expressed their wish to continue joint projects connecting people on both sides of the border.
The Pilsen Region was represented in the Bavarian Representation in Brussels by President of the Region Josef Bernard, and his Deputies Marcela Krejsová and Pavel Čížek.
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