Tire production booming in Czech Republic

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (Feb. 10)—Tire production has increased an average of 15 percent annually since 2000 in the Czech Republic, according to an economic analyst. Tires, along with plastics and television sets, set the pace for an overall 4.4-percent rate of growth for Czech industry in a year-to-year comparison through November 2002, according to Miroslav Brabec, economic analyst of the Austrian bank Raiffeisen. "This sector is one of the most dynamic in the Czech Republic and I expect it will continue to be that way in the current year, too," he said.