Panasonic has closely cooperated with CzechInvest during its long-term expansion in the Czech Republic. The company’s plant in Plzen’s Borska pole industrial zone currently employs over 5,000 people and is one of the largest television manufacturers in Central Europe.
“CzechInvest cooperated with Panasonic on the initial production investment ten years ago. Today we can consider the company a model example of successful foreign investment, when over the course of several years the initial, relatively simple production was eventually tied to research and development of modern technologies, bringing forth close cooperation with universities,” explains Roman Cermak, CEO of CzechInvest.
The Plzen plant has had its own research and development operation since 1999 involving ongoing cooperation with the University of West Bohemia, to which Panasonic provides its televisions for testing and educational purposes. The company also contributes CZK 0.5 million annually for laboratory equipment and sponsors five to eight dissertations every year.
“Electronics is one of the strongest industrial sectors in the Czech Republic. In terms of its rate of growth, it has recently surpassed the seemingly invincible automotive industry,” Roman Cermak adds.
Over ten years, Panasonic has invested CZK 4 billion in Plzen and has manufactured over 10.5 million televisions. This year the company plans to produce another three million units. Production began with traditional 37 and 55 mm vacuum-tube displays. Today, however, the plant produces only plasma and LCD monitors. "The past decade in Plzen has been very successful, and we are ready to stay here for another ten years,” says the plant’s general manager, Norijuki Jasuo.
Lucie Kralova, spokesperson, phone: +420 296 342 538, lucie.kralova@czechinvest.org
Jiri Sochor, PR executive, phone: + 420 296 342 832, jiri.sochor@czechinvest.org
More about Panasonic
Matsushita Electric Industrial of Japan, known in the Czech Republic by the Panasonic brand of its products, is one of the world’s most significant companies in the area of development and production of electronics for consumers and for industrial use. Last year, this largest producer of televisions in the Czech Republic earned a record CZK 44 billion, an increase of CZK 14 billion over fiscal year 2005-2006, when the company produced 1.24 million televisions. Europe – particularly Germany, Great Britain, France and Scandinavia – is a key market. In addition to the plant in Plzen, the company also operates a facility in Pardubice which produces car radios under the Panasonic brand.