At the recent Nanofibres 2012 conference held in Tokyo on 4-5 May, Czech nanotechnology firms and institutions presented the results of their work to the world, gained new contacts and partners and had at a look at the competition. Their presentation at the conference, in which 340 specialists from 17 countries participated, was part of the sixth Czech-Japan Technology Days event organised by CzechInvest, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“I am pleased that we were able, within the Czech-Japan Technology Days, to be there when Czech nanofibres were presented to the world’s leading specialists in this field,” says Minister of Industry and Trade Martin Kuba, adding: “We again demonstrated that we have something to offer in such a promising field as nanotechnology. We don’t just come up with good ideas; we also introduce them into practice.”
“Japan is indisputably a world power in the area of nanotechnology. Therefore, exhibiting in Japan and penetrating the local market is a great success for every Czech firm. Such success is also a good reference point for penetrating the markets of other countries, as it is a sign that companies were able to meet the high demands that the Japanese place on products,” emphasises Kateřina Fialková, ambassador of the Czech Republic in Japan. “Czech companies in Japan must prove that their ideas and technologies are exceptional and have potential, which the participants in the Nanofibres 2012 conference succeeded in doing.”
“The nanotechnology sector is advancing by leaps and bounds. I base my assessment on the developments that I heard about at the Nanofibres 2012 conference in Tokyo,” says Miroslav Křížek, CEO of CzechInvest, adding: “Someday we will be able, for example, to bend batteries because they will be made of nanofibres. The fields of composite materials and water treatment are also developing rapidly. Companies and researchers in the Czech Republic are part of this process, and therefore nanotechnology is one of CzechInvest’s priority sectors.”
“The Asian market is of fundamental importance for our company, and there is apparent interest in our technology here. However, getting potential clients from Asia to Europe, or rather the Czech Republic, is not at all easy, so we didn’t just participate in Nanofibres 2012; we were also a co-organiser of the conference,” explains Peter Hawlan, general manager and executive of Elmarco s.r.o. “The whole event is focused on actual projects and advances in applications. Thus it can be seen that nanofibres have taken a major step toward commercialisation.”
“By building a global centre of excellence in the area of nanofibres, we are putting our many years of experience to good use. We are collaborating with leading Japanese specialists, and Japan is a key market for us. Personal contact, which we have room for, is irreplaceable for us,” says Ladislav Mareš, chairman of the board of directors of Nafigate Corporation.
“Thanks to cooperation with Nafigate and Elmarco and participation in the Czech-Japan Technology Days, a door to the world has been opened for us. We have obtained a lot of valuable information and got an idea of the direction of the commercialisation of biopolymers and how to apply them,” says Martin Weiter, head of the research programme of the Centre for Materials Research at Brno University of Technology, who further states that the Nanospider technology is one of the possibilities for using biopolymers in practice.
The Czech nanofibre sector was represented in Tokyo by the companies Contipro Biotech, Elmarco, and Nafigate. Of the Czech universities and institutions engaged in research and development of nanotechnologies, Brno University of Technology and CEITEC (Central European Institute of Technology) had representatives at the conference. Within the accompanying programme, participants in the Czech Technology Days event also took part in a preview of the Nanospider NS 4S1000U at Elmarco’s showroom in Tokyo.
Czech nanotechnology firms and institutions will have another opportunity to address the Asian market at the Nano Korea 2012 trade fair, which will take place in September 2012. The Czech Republic will have a national pavilion there, as it had at Nanotech 2012, which was held in Tokyo in February.
The Czech Technology Days project supports international cooperation in the areas of research, development, technology and innovation. Its greatest benefit consists in building new contacts and establishing cooperation between research institutions, political representatives and representatives of the private sector. More information is available at http://www.czechtechnologydays.org/.
Pro další informace kontaktujte tiskové oddělení agentury CzechInvest
Štěpánka Filipová, tisková mluvčí, tel.: +420 296 342 538, stepanka.filipova@czechinvest.org
Vít Kolář, tiskový mluvčí, mobil: +420 724 034 154, press@mzv.cz
Veronika Forejtová, tisková mluvčí, tel.: +420 224 853 291, forejtova@mpo.cz
CzechInvest slaví 20 let!
Agentura pro podporu podnikání a investic CzechInvest podporuje příliv zahraničních investic do České republiky už 20 let. Od svého založení v roce 1992 do roku 2012 pomohla zprostředkovat 1798 investičních projektů v celkové hodnotě přes 715 miliard korun, díky nimž vzniklo téměř čtvrt miliónu nových pracovních míst. Přispívá ke zlepšování celkového podnikatelského prostředí v České republice a usiluje o zvyšování konkurenceschopnosti české ekonomiky v měnících se podmínkách. Od roku 2004 funguje jako implementační orgán pro strukturální fondy EU a své odborníky má v regionálních kancelářích všech krajských měst ČR. Generální ředitel CzechInvestu Miroslav Křížek je Manažerem roku 2011 v odvětví Služby pro podnikatele a veřejnost.