Martin Jahn

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Martin Jahn (born January 21, 1970) is a Czech economist and politician. In August 2004-December 2005, he served as Deputy Prime Minister for Economic policy.

[edit] Career

He graduated from the University of Economics, Prague and quickly launched a career in CzechInvest, a governmental agency supporting foreign companies to invest in the Czech Republic. In 1997, he started managing an office in Chicago, where he studied at DePaul University and received an MBA. In 1999 he became the CEO of CzechInvest. Under his leadership, CzechInvest attracted a vast amount of foreign direct investment.

In the summer of 2004, Jahn was appointed as vice-prime minister for economic policy in the government led by Stanislav Gross. After Gross resigned, Jahn remained in Jiří Paroubek's government at the same position. In May 2005, he proposed a new economic agenda, by which he claimed the Czech Republic could catch up western countries of the European Union in eight years. The agenda involved liberalisation of public finance sector and tax policy, introduction of fees at universities, etc.

As a non-party a member of the socialist government, who did not manage any ministry, his impact on the government policies was quite limited.

[edit] Personal life

Jahn was made a member of the French Ordre National du Mérite. As well as his native Czech, he also speaks English, German, Russian and French. He is married with 2 children.