Electrical Engineering and Electronics

Why Invest in the Czech Republic

You could hardly find a country in the CEE region with a more extensive tradition in the EE/Electronics industry. Production of EE/electronics products has been linked to Czech (or, previously, Czechoslovak) industry since the beginning of the 20^th century and during the second half of the last century the Czechoslovakia was one of the dominant countries in the Eastern Bloc.

The modern history of the Czech electronics industry is extremely rich due to successful transformation of economy, the increase of work productivity and the quality of production. The nationwide tradition of the sector, together with the Czech Republic’s solid education system, highly developed technical base and highly educated workforce, has attracted numerous foreign electronics companies which evenly cover the entire country.

Nowadays the Czech Republic offers to foreign investors strategic position in Central Europe with direct transport access to the EU market of nearly 500 million consumers which wouldn’t be able without well-developed transport and telecommunications infrastructure.Potential investors can also find here high innovation potential of Czech engineers and electronics technicians and great potential for R&D projects, positive approach of the Czech government and investment support covering up to 60% of eligible costs through a transparent system of investment incentives.

Facts

• more than 1 200 companies
• EUR 17,2 billion in sales
• 163 000 employees
• 14,6% of Czech manufacturing-industry output
• great place for R&D and manufacturing
• effective patent protection
• global companies conducting business, R&D and/or manufacturing in the Czech Republic include Panasonic, Honeywell, On Semiconductor, Bang &Olufsen, Rockwell Automation, FEI Company and others

Note: Exchange rate EUR 1 = CZK 27,142 (H1 2009)

How Can We Help You

• assistance in implementing investments projects
• assistance in finding Czech partners in the following areas of R&D:
• electron microscopy (magnetic resonance, utilization of lasers, acquisition and processing of biosignals, light optical microscopy accessories and image processing, special vacuum chambers and custom systems, detection systems)
• semiconductor technology (energy quality and savings, environmental research, laser systems and their applications, trans-disciplinary biomedical engineering research, optoelectronics and microsystems, sensors devices for wireless communications)
• radio engineering (passive radar technology, surveillance systems, air traffic control and air defence area, radio communication systems)
• robotics(artificial intelligence, machine perception, robotics and biomedical engineering with the focus to multi-agent systems, machine learning, data mining, pattern recognition, knowledge-based systems, medical data processing and collaborative robotics)
• information about Czech electronics industry (overviews and analysis of the industry)
• database of Czech suppliers

R&D in the Electrical Engineering and Electronics

The Czech Republic offers a solid background for the electronics industry not only in terms of investment climate, infrastructure and competitive costs. The country’s high standard of technical education with one of the world’s largest proportions of graduates in technical fields, along with extensive R&D experience in the EE/electronics sector, has resulted in an extensive pool of researchers, convincing numerous companies not only to establish their manufacturing operations in the Czech Republic but also to utilise the local R&D potential.

“The Czech Republic offers a highly skilled and very efficient workforce with a strong technically oriented educational background and a large number of engineering graduates. The country has a rich industrial history and a university system that is highly recognised.”

• Jaroslav Doležal, Honeywell National Executive for the Czech Republic

Case Studies

Bang & Olufsen

This Danish company, whose name has become a worldwide synonym for top-quality consumer electronics, picked the town of Koprivnice in North Moravia from among 40 sites in three countries for its first expansion outside Denmark in early 2004. The company’s Czech branch currently employs 220 people in its brand-new facility, which is set to become the main production plant for unique audio systems, speakers and telephones phones of the Bang & Olufsen brand. The company has also set up an R&D facility which closely cooperates with the local Technical University in Ostrava.

“From the beginning it was our goal not only to establish a production facility, but also to include a fully integrated development department. Therefore, we conducted our search carefully, over a long period of time, before deciding to locate our only foreign branch in the Czech Republic.”

• Michael Jensen, General Manager of the Czech Bang & Olufsen plant

Era

With more than 130 customers all over the world, Era is the clear global leader in next-generation technologies for aircraft tracking and identification for air traffic control and military applications. For the world’s air traffic control organizations, Era technologies are used to maintain safe aircraft operation on runways, during approach and departure, and during the en-route phase across whole countries. For military customers, the VERA passive radar technology is the latest generation of the widespread and famous TAMARA technology developed during the cold war. Era was founded in 1994 by former employees of Tesla Pardubice and now employs around 220 people at its facility in Pardubice, half of whom are qualified engineers. Now part of US-based SRA International, Era’s tradition, experience and resources will ensure that the Czech Republic has a leading role in a world “Beyond Radar”.

Top Projects

If you are interested to find out more about opportunities to invest in the electrical engineering or electronics in the Czech Republic, do not hesitate to contact us at jakub.ruml@czechinvest.org. You can also contact CzechInvest's foreign offices. Our team will do its best to make you feel at home in the Czech Republic.