Government to create large fund for Czech-Israeli cooperative research

The government agency CzechInvest has announced the creation of a large Czech-Israeli fund for the support of cooperative research. The 600 million crown fund is intended primarily to further security research in unmanned aerial drones, detection of explosives and toxic substances, and nanotechnology. According to CzechInvest, the Czech Republic does not have a similar contract with any other state, and Israel cooperates in a similar way with only 15 other countries. The programme is to be officially announced by Prime Minister Jan Fischer at an event highlighting Czech and Israeli science and technology in Prague next week. The Czech Republic has historically strong commercial and military ties with the Israeli state.