Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am truly pleased to welcome you on behalf of the host country for the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group Prague 2000, and I heartily invite you to visit this country, situated in the heart of Europe. Your meetings, which will take place at the end of the second and the beginning of the third millennium, provide a unique opportunity for us to present the results of economic transformation, which began in November 1989, to the international community of financiers and bankers. I believe that our efforts to bring the living standards of our society to a level enjoyed in developed countries throughout the world will bear fruit.

This is one of the reasons we are aware of our great responsibility whilst preparing the Annual Meetings of the Bretton Woods Institutions. We will consider their success as our success, as proof that the Czech Republic is prepared in all aspects to enter the third millennium as a truly developed and democratic state.

President of the Czech Republic

Hyperlink to Havel’s office: http://www.hrad.cz