Who we are?
PP Agency, the Czech press agency, was founded in 1991. For 30 years now we have been publishing export-oriented titles presenting the Czech economy and especially Czech enterprises, which address and find trade partners in a number of countries the world over. In this way we help our firms succeed in foreign countries.
The Main Project
Printed projects:
- economic quarterly Czech Business and Trade
- exclusive economic publication-yearbook Doing Business in the Czech Republic
- territorial publication Czech Republic – Your Trade Partner – a way to establish new commercial contacts in the Czech Republic
- Catalogues of Business Delegations
Electronic projects:
- information server www.doingbusiness.cz – an important source of information about the economic environment in the Czech Republic
Appreciation by important personalities of the long-standing activities of PP Agency
Martin Tlapa, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
I have been in touch with PP Agency and its products from practically the very beginning, which in many respects coincides with the beginnings of my activities in the area of export promotion and economic diplomacy. I greatly appreciate the merits of the Agency´s publications with regard to their presentation of Czech enterprises in foreign countries and their export promotional efforts. From my point of view, PP Agency has been a valuable partner of Czech enterprises and export-oriented institutions on a long-term basis, not only regarding traditional markets, but also in remote and less frequented markets, where the topical and cultivated presentation of Czech exporters is especially important.
Marie Pavlů, Head of Enterprise Europe Network, Centre for Regional Development CR
I have known PP Agency almost from its inception. Already when I was at the head of the Euro Info Centre (EIC) in the Czech Republic in the early 1990s, I often referred for information to its Czechoslovak Foreign Trade magazine (later Czech Business and Trade), published by PP Agency for foreign clients who were beginning to discover the potentials of our market. To me, PP Agency means quality, export- promoting publications, in which information about the Czech market is available in several languages, prepared by top experts acquainted with the Czech market and its rules and promoting top Czech firms. To me, PP Agency is a paradigm of excellent partnership in the area of publicity, a press partner for projects, always meeting its commitments. Since 2008, I have been leading one of the workplaces of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), the largest consulting network serving especially small and medium enterprises, founded by the European Commission. EEN operates in 60 countries and has some 500 partner workplaces. And we send the publications of PP Agency to all of them, whether it is Doing Business in the Czech Republic or Czech Business and Trade, and in particular its territorial publications, Czech Republic – Your Trade Partner, intended each time for one or several selected countries. These are unique in that they are targeted at a specific country and printed in that country´s language, and so they receive a great response from our partners within the network. We send out the publications in printed form, and in the case of Doing Business in the Czech Republic, we also increasingly use the electronic version. Readers appreciate that they can find essential information about the Czech Republic in one publication. In addition, the printed version is so comprehensive, that it can also be used as a gift. I wish PP Agency another 25 years of successful activities and a host of new ideas.
Vladimír Bärtl, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade
In my eyes, PP Agency is a very serious and professional partner. This I am stating after years of collaboration with the Agency. I especially appreciate the projects which the Agency realises, which have won high prestige for themselves over the years. I used the opportunity to collaborate with PP Agency, whose publications present Czech exporters to foreign partners, already at the time of my engagement at the embassies in Ottawa and later in Paris. The Doing Business in the Czech Republic Yearbook in particular is an indispensable source for the economic diplomat, enabling him to present key Czech exporters in the English language, in a very comprehensive and summarised form. In addition to this publication, I also used the publication, Czech Business and Trade, which supplements the Yearbook with summarised information about the current situation of the Czech economy and its development. These two titles are the indispensable minimum for all those intending to open talks with prospective partners and to present the Czech Republic abroad as a modern country with a competitive industry. As regards current collaboration with PP Agency, it would be useful to address Czech enterprises, which could say more about how the present form of presentation assists them to establish themselves abroad. At the moment, no better form of presentation occurs to me. With regard to the collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and Trade or CzechTrade, it has always been smooth and inspirational. We are glad that PP Agency, in return, is assisting in spreading awareness of the services provided by the CzechTrade Agency.
Jan Špunda, Head of Strategy and Development Section of Czech Centres
Czech Centres have been publicising the activities of PP Agency since the early 1990s, and I myself have collaborated with the Agency since 1997. We have always presented the publications of PP Agency as comprehensive materials, promoting the Czech Republic, in particular in the areas of the economy, the business climate and business opportunities. The ability of the Agency´s Managing Director, Pavla Podskalská, to surmount obstacles on the way towards the fulfilment of the Agency´s original aim is remarkable. We owe it to her that publication of the Czech Business and Trade magazine, whose history goes back to the 1990s, is continuing.
GDPR: DATA PROTECTION
Personal data protection is regulated by supralegal instruments. The main instrument is the Council of Europe Convention no. 108 of 28 January[PH1] 1981 for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data, published in the Czech Republic in the Collection of International Treaties under no. 115/2001 Sb.m.c.(PDF) and entered into effect as of 1 November 2001. The Convention is complemented by the Additional Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data, regarding Supervisory Authorities and Transborder Data Flows published in the Collection of International Treaties under no. 29/2005 Sb. m. s. (PDF), which entered into effect as of 1 July 2004. In Czech Constitutional Law, the basic provisions are Article 7, paragraph 1 and Article 10, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms. With regard to the European Union, basic provisions are Article 16 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) of the Lisbon Treaty and Article 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The main legal Act in Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (content and applicable text) will be replaced as of 25 May 2018 by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The general legal act regulating personal data protection in the Czech Republic is Act no. 101/2000 Sb. (Coll.) on the Protection of Personal Data and on Amendments to Some Acts (applicable text, content), which will be replaced as of 25 May 2018 by the GDPR and by the Czech Adaptation Act. EU Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) provides for the legal framework regarding personal data protection applicable to the whole EU territory and for the protection of EU citizens´ rights against unlawful processing of their data and personal information. GDPR contains all the existing principles relating to data protection and data processing on which EU data protection is based. It confirms that protection “travels” with the data across borders. The GDPR further develops and reinforces the rights of persons concerned by data processing in the two main aspects: having (obtaining) information on which data is being processed and why, requiring compliance with the rules, and seeking remedies. The GDPR systematically promotes effective enforcement of the rights of individuals and the obligations of controllers (responsible for data processing). To achieve that, it provides for more sophisticated and stricter rules for specific types of data and modes of processing. It also requires a more proactive approach from controllers and processors. This concerns especially the obligation to assess the impact of each new data processing on data protection (DPIA), the obligation to use appropriate data protection tools and to consult supervisory authorities in some specific situations. The key element determining controllers´ obligations is the level of risk which is correlated to the scope of processing, the personal nature of data and the use of technologies. Controllers and processors are, in certain cases, obliged to designate a Data Protection Officer. The Regulation provides for more detailed obligations regarding data security and imposes a new obligation i.e. to notify any breach of personal data security to the supervisory authority and to all persons concerned. The GDPR also contains explicit provisions regarding the independence of supervisory authorities, general conditions for their members, their competence, tasks and powers, in the EU member states, the EEE and Switzerland; it furthermore provides for cooperation between these supervisory authorities. It also provides for a uniform approach to sanctions.
Recommendation
Contact
PP Agency s.r.o.
Myslíkova 25
110 00 Praha 1
Czech Republic