Business Support Services

Why Invest in the Czech Republic

As competition between countries and regions for cross-border investment intensifies with some locations becoming expensive and some getting saturated, the Czech Republic has managed to maintain its position as one of the world’s most attractive locations for foreign direct investment. In these times of economic downturn, investors are turning toward more secure and stable regions. According to the Ernst & Young European Attractiveness Survey from 2009, Central and Eastern Europe is considered to be the most attractive business location over the next three years and ranks ahead of China, India, Russia and Western Europe. The Czech Republic has maintained its stable position and remains one of the leaders of the region. Furthermore, the Economist Intelligence Unit forecasts that the overall FDI per capita into the Czech Republic will be the highest in the region by 2011.

While a few years ago Prague was the only hotspot attracting investments in the services sector, followed by the Moravian capital Brno, other regional centres with their exceptionally strong academic interface are currently gaining in attractiveness. Attention is being turned to university cities such as Ostrava, Olomouc and Plzen, which offer quality and a loyal and motivated workforce, while at the same time the pressure of rival businesses remains very low. In addition, projects in these cities are more cost effective.

The most frequently shared services are financial, accounting and IT services and customer support. Rapidly growing shared services include human resources, purchasing, logistics and legal services.

„In 2005 we chose Prague as the location for our centre of business support services mainly thanks to the sufficient availability of workers with professional and language skills on the given labour market and also thanks to the macroeconomic stability of the Czech Republic. The initial plan to hire 80 new employees and to offer services only in the field of processing financial documents for selected European countries soon had to be rethought. Now almost 220 colleagues offer services to partner organizations of Johnson & Johnson in many other financial processes within Europe as well as the United States. Prague turned out to be the correct choice.“

• David Mansfeld, Managing Director, JNJ Global Business Services

Facts

• multilingual workforce suitable for international services projects
• developed ICT infrastructure
• abundant A-class office space available in both the capital and regional cities
• data protection respecting all EU rules
• positive approach of the government, financial support for BSS projects
• cultural proximity to the western world

How Can We Help You

• assistance in implementing investments projects
• structural-fund subsidies of ICT and Business Support Services programme
• finding a suitable location
• database of offices available for service sector
• highly educated, multilingual and skilled workforce
• good access to university graduates with economic degrees
• strategic position in Central Europe
• international environment

FDI inflow per capita in Central Europe (forecast 2007-2011, USD)

Projects Classified as Business Support Services

• Shared Services Centres
• Customer Contact Centres
• ICT Expert Solution Centres
• Software Development Centres
• High-Tech Repair Centres

People for Growth

CzechInvest realizes that today’s companies need to be more creative in finding talented employees. In 2007 CzechInvest launched the HR Activity project with the aim of ensuring availability and development of a qualified workforce for employment in centres of business support services with focus on secondary education and partnering of companies, educational institutions and other organizations. Upon realisation of the HR Activity seminars in several regions including Prague, Brno and Ostrava, a number of companies entered into cooperation with participating secondary schools, particularly in the form of work-study programmes, field trips and lectures for students. A further illustration of the maturity of the country BSS environment is the creation of the so-called HR Club. Facilitated by CzechInvest, HR managers of major BSS centres meet regularly to share their experiences and discuss issues common in the industry. Members of the HR Club and HR managers from companies such as Accenture, Ariba, SAP BSCE, JNJ Global Business Services, Team Trackers, Covidien, Inbev, DSGi and others. Another BSS supporting activity is SSC Discussion Forum which was initiated by Deloitte in 2008. CzechInvest became a member in 2009 and is interested in deeper cooperation between existing SSCs. The main goal is to create a platform for exchange of experiences among the SSC representatives who run, implement and optimise Shared Services Centres across the country.

Top country locations in EMEA region

Case Study

GE Money

GE Money opened its Ostrava centre with 50 employees in April 2006. Its initial core functions were a call centre for customers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, early collections and enabling functions such as HR and training. The number of staff rose to 650 by 2008. Given the overall quality of provided services and the significantly lower costs to Prague, in 2008 GE Money decided to expand the scope by more sophisticated processes such as middle collections, origination processes, telesales, customer service back office, a small part of IT, risk management and facility management. The centre has been a successful applicant for national and EU grants.

„CzechInvest has helped us in all stages of the project – from the initial research to find the most suitable location, through the building and development phase to consulting on and applying for subsidies. Currently we benefit from their AfterCare services such as organising HR related events in the region or helping us to develop effective long-term cooperation with schools. Overall our experience with the agency’s young and enthusiastic employees has been very positive.“

• Michael Augustin, Shared Services Center Director, GE Money

Top Projects

If you are interested to find out more about opportunities to invest in Business Support Services in the Czech Republic, do not hesitate to contact us at iva.eretova@czechinvest.org. You can also contact CzechInvest's foreign offices.