Electrical Engineering and Electronics

• Where else can you find an EE/electronics sector with its roots dating back to the beginning of the 20th century?
• Where else can you find a region with a tradition of semiconductor manufacturing dating back to the 1960s?
• What other country accounts for nearly half of the computer production of the CEFTA countries?
• Looking for the biggest independent IC design group in the CEE region?
• Looking for a CEE country with a thriving fab in operation?

More than anything else, the Czech EE/electronics sector is based on a long tradition and highly qualified employees. The industry is evenly spread around the country and employs nearly 190,000 people with total revenues of EUR 15.4 billion (in 2005). The country's manufacturing portfolio includes practically all branches of EE/electronics, from electric drives/engines and power supply to consumer electronics and microchips.

We've got the talent...just ask the world leaders

The Czech EE/electronics industry's century-long tradition together with a high level of technical education and research experience have created a fruitful environment not only for manufacturing but also for R&D activities. You needn't worry about taking your precious R&D know-how into uncharted territory - the Czech Republic has already passed the test of reliability many times. Some examples:

Honeywell chose the Czech Republic as its first offshore R&D location in 1993 when it set up its Prague laboratory in cooperation with the Czech Technical University. The company's positive experience in the Czech Republic lead it to establish a Global Design Centre in Brno which currently employs more than 250 engineers and is continuing to grow.
In addition to its manufacturing facility, Panasonic established an R&D centre in Plzen at which the company conducts research in the field of electrical design, mechanical design and software development. The same applies to Bang & Olufsen, which is forming a 70-strong R&D department in addition to its manufacturing plant in Koprivnice. ST Microelectronics runs the biggest individual IC design group in the CEE region with over 200 engineers in Prague focusing on state-of-the-art analogue/mix signal design. ON Semiconductor runs a semiconductor fab as well as an IC design centre in the town of Roznov, where integrated circuits have been manufactured since 1967. Brno hosts one of the fastest growing design centres of Flextronics and AMI Semiconductor and is truly a hub of electron microscopy in the CEE region with three world class-companies - FEI, TESCAN and Delong Instruments - conducting research and manufacturing in this high-tech field.

These are just a few of the companies that have decided to fully utilise the investment potential of the country. If you are interested in joining them in Central Europe's hotbed of technology, do not hesitate to contact us at fdi@czechinvest.org. Our team will do its best to make you feel at home in the Czech Republic.

Examples of investments in selected sub-sectors of the electronics industry