The Czech government said on Friday it wanted to sign an agreement with the United States that would allow Czech companies to participate in the building of the U.S. missile defense shield.

A preparatory bilateral meeting on the agreement will take place next Friday, the Foreign Ministry said.

A seminar on the issue will be organized by the Czech Foreign ministry and the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency (MDA) next Wednesday and Thursday, Czech news agency CTK reported.

"The aim of the seminar is to open possibilities for cooperation between Czech and U.S. companies in the sphere of research, development and industrial production of missile defense systems," the ministry was quoted as saying.

The companies and research institutions will establish contact at the seminar, which is to be attended by Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg and MDA Director Henry Obering as well as representatives of arms producers participating in the project, such as Raython, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.

At present, the United States is cooperating with Japan, Italy, Australia, Britain and Denmark on the missile defense shield.

The United States plans to build interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of its missile defense shield.

Its negotiations with the Czech Republic are still underway. A recent opinion poll showed 70 percent of the Czechs rejected the planned U.S. radar base, the highest rate of opposition recorded.

Russia strongly opposes the U.S. missile defense program in Poland and the Czech Republic.

(Xinhua News Agency January 12, 2008)