Association for Foreign Investment

CzechInvest

Investment and Business Development Agency CzechInvest is an organisation of the Ministry of Industry & Trade that strengthens the competitiveness of the Czech economy by supporting small- and medium-sized companies, business infrastructure, innovation and gaining foreign investment from the fields of manufacturing, business support services and technology centres. In order to simplify communication between the government, businessmen and women and the European Union, CzechInvest covers the entire field of support for enterprise in manufacturing, both from EU funds and from the national budget. CzechInvest also promotes the Czech Republic abroad as a suitable location for mobile investments. It is the sole organisation allowed to submit applications for investment incentives to superior authorities, and supports Czech companies interested in linking up with the supply chains of multinational companies. Through these services and development programmes CzechInvest thus contributes to the development of incoming investors, domestic companies and the business environment as a whole.

CzechInvest's services

- Assistance in implementing investment projects
- Mediation of government investment support
- AfterCare services for foreign investors already operating in the Czech Republic, support for reinvestmen
- Administration of the business property database
- Supplier support - database of Czech suppliers
- Information on opportunities for aid to small- and medium-sized companies
- Implementation of business support programmes, formal consulting

Voted "Best Investment Promotion Agency of the EU Candidate Countries" in 2002, CzechInvest has succeeded in gaining the following investors among others: Accenture, Bosch Diesel, Celestica, Denso, DHL, FOXCONN, Honeywell, IBM, Lego, Matsushita, Olympus, Panasonic, TPCA and many more. By the end of 2004, i.e. during more than ten years of its existence, CzechInvest implemented over 440 investment projects worth a total of nearly 11 billion dollars (380 billion crowns). In the first half of 2005 alone, 70 foreign and Czech investors from the fields of manufacturing, business support services and R&D decided for the Czech Republic. These firms plan to invest at least one billion dollars here.

Leadership:

• Miroslav Křížek - Chief Executive Officer
• Alexandra Rudyšarová - Deputy CEO
• Jan Urban - Deputy CEO
• Patrik Reichl - Deputy for Support of the Business Environment
• Petr Müller - Director of Internal Services Section
• Přemysl Filip - Director of Finance Section
• Jakub Dvořáček - Acting Director of Investments Division
• Lukáš Vymětal - Director of Structural Funds Division
• Martin Babuška - Director of Regions Division

More information
In the first half of 2004, CzechInvest gradually opened 13 regional offices in individual regional cities, while the area of Prague and the Central Bohemian region fall under a common office at CzechInvest's headquarters. The staff of the regional offices provide information on individual support programmes, carry out basic activities related to implementation and administration of European development programmes and cooperate on the development of the local business environment.
For better contact with foreign investors directly in their native countries, CzechInvest has eight offices around the world: two in the USA (Campbell, CA; Chicago), and one each in Brussels, Hong Kong, Yokohama, Cologne, London and Paris.

References
Foreign companies that operate in the Czech Republic, e.g. DHL, Honeywell, TPCA, Bosch Diesel, Hartmann-Rico, OSRAM Bruntál, FOXCONN, Symbol Technologies, Panasonic.