Tomáš Prouza

Tomáš Prouza
State Secretary for European Affairs
In office
3 January 2014 – 31 March 2017
Prime MinisterBohuslav Sobotka
Preceded byVojtěch Belling
Succeeded byAleš Chmelař
1st Czech Coordinator for Digital Agenda
In office
18 May 2016 – 31 March 2017
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byOndřej Malý
Personal details
Born (1973-04-30) 30 April 1973 (age 51)
Ostrava, Czechoslovakia
(now Czech Republic)
Political partyČSSD (2015–2018)
Alma materOpen University
University of Economics, Prague

Tomáš Prouza (born 30 April 1973) is a Czech economist, former Deputy Minister of Finance (2004–2007)[1] and from January 2014 to March 2017 State Secretary for European Affairs at the Czech Prime Minister's Office.[2] In May 2016 the Government appointed Tomáš Prouza as the coordinator for the digital agenda. His main task was to synchronize and manage all governmental activities and communication for support of the digital economy and digitalization of public administration among the ministries and other central governmental institutions. He resigned his government positions on 31 March 2017 and went to establish his own consulting company EU Politics Advisory. On 1 October 2018 he has become President of the Confederation of Trade and Tourism of the Czech Republic.[3]

Career

Between 2012 and 2014, he worked at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., as an expert on consumer protection in financial services.[1]

After leaving the Ministry of Finance in 2007, he co-founded Partners Financial Services,[4] a financial distribution company, where he acted as the member of the board responsible for compliance and customer care.

He also served between 2009 and 2012 as the chairman of the board of Prague Philharmonia,[5] founded in 1994 by Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek.

When serving as the deputy finance minister between 2004 and 2007, he was responsible for financial services, EU and international relations, fiscal policy and euro adoption. Between November 2005 and December 2006 he was the first National Coordinator for Euro Introduction in the Czech Republic. He also represented the Czech Republic in the Ecofin Council, Economic and Finance Committee and Financial Services Committee of the European Council and served as the Deputy Governor of the International Monetary Fund for the Czech Republic.

He started his career as economic journalist, first in the Czech-English monthly The Prague Tribune where he was responsible for Czech editing and financial section of the magazine, and then between 2000 and 2004 as the founder and CEO of the personal finance website www.penize.cz.[6]

Prouza graduated from the University of Economics in Prague (majoring in international politics and diplomacy) and received his MBA from the Open University.

Awards and honours

In 2016, Tomáš Prouza was awarded the Legion of Honour.

References

  1. ^ a b "Prouza získal kontrakt ve Světové bance" (in Czech). e15.cz. 7 November 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  2. ^ "Tomáš Prouza, MBA". Government of the Czech Republic. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  3. ^ "POLITICO EU Influence, presented by Erasmus +: Love for Russian gas — Tobacco wars — Timmermans makes his move – POLITICO".
  4. ^ Šafaříková, Kateřina (9 January 2014). "Eurotajemník Tomáš Prouza: Muž ohrožený vytěsněním" (in Czech). Česká pozice. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  5. ^ Pokorný, Pavel (12 April 2012). "Krotitel dluhů Tomáš Prouza chce být ředitelem Národního divadla" (in Czech). Česká pozice. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  6. ^ "Sobotkovým náměstkem se stal Tomáš Prouza". Mladá fronta DNES (in Czech). iDNES. 28 June 2004. Retrieved 30 September 2014.