Business and Investment Development Agency

News

press release

CzechInvest arranged investments worth more than CZK 36 billion in 2018

One-fifth of the investments involve high-tech projects

15.09.2019
CzechInvest arranged investments worth more than CZK 36 billion in 2018 Source: Shutterstock
  • 82 arranged investment projects in the value of CZK 36.7 billion
  • 22% are high-tech projects
  • The most recent amendment to the Investment Incentives Act supports high-tech and smart investments

Last year, CzechInvest helped to arrange 82 investment projects of domestic and foreign companies in the combined value of CZK 36.7 billion. Every fifth investment is a high-tech project, i.e. an investment with a highly technological focus or connected with research and development. In sixty cases, the investments involve expansions of companies that are already operating in the Czech Republic. Sixty-nine investors plan to use support in the form of investment incentives for their projects.

The slight decline in the number of arranged projects compared with previous years is due to the more complicated situation on the Czech labour market. Because of the local labour shortage, some investors are placing their activities in other Central Eastern European countries. However, investments that previously brought to the Czech Republic large numbers of low-skilled jobs are no longer among those on which CzechInvest focuses. According to its new strategy, CzechInvest carefully selects investments that are more beneficial for the Czech economy.

“Based on the Innovation Strategy of the Czech Republic 2019-2030, our interest lies in investments that bring new technologies and know-how to the Czech Republic and so-called smart investments, i.e. investments that are appropriately localised in order to meet the needs of the given region,” explains Patrik Reichl, who has served as the acting CEO of CzechInvest since July. “We are aided in this by the amendment to the Investment Incentives Act, which regulates support for just this type of investment. In the coming years, we want to more actively address and stimulate the interest of investors in, for example, the areas of aerospace, software development and advanced automotive technologies, such as self-driving cars.”

With Czech companies, CzechInvest helped to arrange 47 investment projects in the combined value of CZK 23.1 billion in 2018. Foreign investors are most frequently Germans (eight investment projects in the combined value of CZK 2.6 billion), Japanese (five investment projects in the combined value of CZK 3.1 billion) and Brits (five investment projects in the combined value of CZK 0.6 billion). With CzechInvest’s assistance, four Chinese companies brought to the Czech Republic investment projects worth CZK 3.8 billion.

CzechInvest arranged the largest number of investment projects in the plastics industry (16 projects, CZK 5.8 billion), followed by the metal-processing industry (12 projects, CZK 5.6 billion) and vehicle manufacturing (12 projects, CZK 6.8 billion). The Moravia-Silesia region received the largest number of investments (13 projects, CZK 5.9 billion), followed by South Moravia (nine projects, CZK 2.3 billion) and the Ústí region (nine projects, CZK 7.1 billion).

The biggest investment project arranged by CzechInvest in 2018 is the expansion of Varroc Lighting Systems’ production of automobile lights in Bohumín and Nový Jičín (CZK 2.5 billion). High-tech investments include, for example, expansion and diversification of the manufacturing of electronics for electric motors undertaken by ZF Electronics Klášterec in Kadaň (CZK 2 billion) and JOB AIR Technik’s expansion of the operations of its civil-aircraft repair and maintenance centre in Kopřivnice (CZK 204.84 million).

The Investment and Business Development Agency CzechInvest is a state contributory organisation subordinate to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. The agency arranges domestic and foreign investments in the Czech Republic in the areas of manufacturing, business support services and technology centres. CzechInvest supports small, medium-sized and newly established innovative companies, business infrastructure and innovation. 

We use cookies to ensure optimal functioning of our website. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. More information here
}