Thursday evening at Žofín belonged to the fifteenth annual Investor and Business Property of the Year awards ceremony. CzechInvest and the Association for Foreign Investment presented awards to the thirteen most significant investment and business property projects of 2014. The awards ceremony was held under the auspices of Minister of Industry and Trade Jan Mládek, who also presented an award to representatives of the South Korean company Nexen Tire, whose investment was judged by an expert jury to be the most significant of last year.
Nexen Tire Corporation Czech s.r.o. won first place in the Manufacturing category. The company’s investment in the amount of CZK 22.8 billion in the Triangle Strategic Industrial Zone will lead to the creation of 1,384 jobs. In the Research and Development category, the top prize was awarded to VALEO AUTOKLIMATIZACE k.s., which last year invested CZK 10 million in the expansion of its technology centre for the development of automobile components. MSD IT Global Innovation Center s.r.o. took was award first place in the IT and Shared Services category for its investment in a new technology and IT centre.
“In the area of investments, 2014 was an extraordinarily successful year for the Czech Republic. This is evidenced by the fact that last year CzechInvest mediated a total of 147 new investment projects in the value of more than 87 billion crowns. This is also the result of our government’s pro-investment policies. Together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we focused an extraordinary degree of attention on supporting economic diplomacy. We came up with a number of projects and supporting measures, and I personally took a full range of trips abroad as the head of Czech business missions. I also headed a number of meetings in regions that are interesting in terms of investment, the result of which is that today the Czech Republic is seen as a stable and friendly environment for investors, which motivates Czech and foreign companies to continually develop their business here,” says Minster of Industry and Trade Jan Mládek.
The Business Property of the Year 2014 awards were presented in two categories. The Triangle Strategic Industrial Zone was named the Industrial Zone of the Year. The top prize in the Property of the Year for Technology Centres and Services category was won by the Riverview office building, which is located in the Smíchov district of Prague.
The portfolio of high-quality business properties prepared for leasing strengthens our position in negotiations with investors. We are successful in international competition also because we are able to offer suitable business properties,” says Karel Kučera, CEO of CzechInvest.
The AFI Prize for Significant Achievement in the Field of Investments was awarded this year to the UniCRE Centre of Research and Education. The AFI Prize for Long-Term Benefit to the Investment Environment of the Czech Republic was presented to the globally recognised physicist Professor Armin Delong. “We are greatly honoured that we can present this award to Professor Armin Delong, the founder of electron microscopy in Czechoslovakia, in recognition of his life’s work. Professor Delong’s first electron microscope was put into production in 1949. The products developed by him are valued mainly because they are compact, easily portable and easy to use. However, thanks to their performance and resolution, they are comparable to significantly larger and more complex electron microscopes. In the case of the other award winner, UniCRE, this is large and important investment for the development of innovations in the Ústí region. The centre offers employment opportunities for highly skilled specialists and also plays a role in educating young researchers. It is a unique science and research project with a significant practical reach,” says Kamil Blažek, chairman of the Steering Committee of the Association for Foreign Investment.
The Investor and Business Property of the Year 2014 awards ceremony was part of the Investment Week event organised by CzechInvest. More information is available at www.tydeninvestic.cz.
Investment Week is being held under the auspices of Minister of Industry and Trade Jan Mládek and Minister of Education, Youth and Sport Marcel Chládek. The professional partner of the event is the Association for Foreign Investment and the main partners are the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic and Erste Corporate Banking. Other partners are the Association of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Crafts of the Czech Republic, Huawei, the Regional Development Agency, Nupharo, Asental Group, CBRE, CPI Property Group, CTP, Immofinanz and KPMG Česká republika. The supporting partners are Zátiší Group and AC&C Public Relations. The media partners are the weekly Ekonom, Hospodářské noviny, TradeNews, The Prague Post, Prager Zeitung and finance.cz.
For more information please contact the CzechInvest Press Centre
Petra Menclová, spokesperson, phone: +420 296 342 430, petra.menclova@czechinvest.org