Analysis of external and internal influences on CR agrarian foreign trade

Abstract

The agrarian sector has a non-substitutable position in most world economics – including the CR. From the viewpoint of functioning of own agrarian trade it can be stated that the CR is roughly self-sufficient by 70–80% in products of a competitive nature. In case of products of a non-competitive nature, the CR shows almost zero self-sufficiency. It means that agrarian foreign trade occupies a non-substitutable position in the CR economy (at least from the export point of view). In the light of our own trade flows, the CR performs as an active exporter and importer (about 100 billion and 130 billion CZK respectively, in 2009). However, together with the still growing needs of the national economy and the inhabitants’ requirements for a varied composition of agri‑food products, the CR does not succeed in the long term to decrease the negative balance of the agrarian foreign trade. It is, however, indisputable that if a serious discussion should be held about the competitiveness of Czech agriculture in confrontation with foreign producers or suppliers of agricultural and food products, the priority task to reach a balanced agrarian foreign trade balance can be accepted only for the competitive products segment. The complexity of a greater participation of the basic Czech agricultural and food products on the EU unified market deepens simultaneously with the acceleration of the liberalisation process on this market. The gradual process of the world agrarian market liberalisation then means that the cost and price relationships are determined by such world producers as are able to offer agrarian products for the most advantageous prices, or offer goods of exceptional quality, with a high added value, brand products, national specialties and so on. Potentially, the space for improvement of the active balance of agrarian foreign trade (AFT) is given to us in much the same way as to our competitors, but actually, our possibilities are limited. The stagnation or even growth of the negative AFT balance was, and is influenced by non-substitutable imports of non-competitive food raw materials and foodstuff products and many other raw materials required by the non-agricultural sectors of the national economy.