Association for Foreign Investment

2008/11/10, AFI elects new leadership for the next two years

Prague, 10 November 2008: The Association for Foreign Investment (AFI) elected new members of its executive bodies at the association’s General Meeting in October. Twelve representatives of significant Czech and multinational companies will meet within the AFI Steering Committee and Inspection Commission over the next two years. Jan Bobek, business manager of Tebodin Czech Republic, was elected to the position of chairman of the Steering Committee. Alexandra Rudyšarová, acting CEO of CzechInvest, became the deputy chairperson. The AFI associates a group of leading Czech companies that provide to foreign investors a broad range of professional services. We provide, for example, financial, legal and human resources consulting to investors interested in entering the Czech market.

The steering committee has nine members. Others who will be able to take an active role in the AFI’s strategy and operation include Miloslav Hala (Arcadis Project Management), Petr Kasl (Bovis Lend Lease), Martin Tax (Deltax Systems), Jan Holásek (Havel & Holásek), Pavel Milichovský (Cheming), Kamil Blažek (Linklaters) and Martin Zuštík (Technoprojekt). The Inspection Commission’s members are Martin Ježek (Grafton Technologies), deputy chairperson Petra Rychnovská (ASB Prague) and commission chairman Petr Hájek (PricewaterhouseCoopers Czech Republic).

“The Czech Republic is a well-known region among investors. Nevertheless, newly incoming investors are faced with similar problems as those dealt with by their predecessors in our country ten or fifteen years ago. Therefore, the activities of the Association for Foreign Investment are of continuing importance and its members are among the entities with which an investor will initially meet when entering the Czech Republic,” said Jan Bobek, the newly elected chairman of the AFI. According to Mr. Bobek, in the coming period the association will focus on close cooperation with CzechInvest and more intensive presentation of the AFI abroad.

Foreign investments have contributed significantly to the overall growth of the Czech economy in recent years. The AFI will continue to support particularly projects with high added value, which create jobs for highly skilled workers and support the development of Czech suppliers.

Information for editors:

The Association for Foreign Investment was established in 1996 and its membership base currently comprises 54 firms. The AFI represents a group of renowned Czech and foreign consulting companies that are leaders in their respective sectors. Since its establishment, the association has cooperated closely with CzechInvest in the area of supporting the inflow of foreign direct investment to the Czech Republic. Both AFI and CzechInvest support attractiveness of the domestic business environment and competitiveness of the Czech economy as a whole. The Association for Foreign Investment and CzechInvest work together on a professional basis – in the form of joint working groups – as well as on the organisation of joint promotional events. The AFI also endeavours to support formal and informal meetings and discussions between the public and private sectors in order to address issues related to improving the business climate in the Czech Republic.