Investor of the year 2006
2007/12/03, 21 November 2007 Celebratory announcement of the Investor of the year 2006 awards
The Investor of the Year 2006 awards ceremony took place on 21 November 2006 in the Rajská Building of the University of Economics in Prague. Held under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the competition is organised annually by the Association for Foreign Investment and CzechInvest, the national investment and business development agency.
All companies that decided to invest in the Czech Republic in 2006 were eligible for the competition. Information used in the evaluation of their projects was derived from the investment plans that they had submitted to CzechInvest. The Supplier of the Year category involved all companies which took part in the latest round of the Supplier Development Programme administered by CzechInvest. An independent expert committee composed of representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, and CzechInvest selected the most significant entrants from among the dozens of candidates.
Domestic and foreign companies were presented awards in the following categories: Greatest Economic Benefit – Manufacturing Industry, Greatest Economic Benefit – Business Support Services, Investment with the Greatest Innovation Potential and Supplier of the Year. Two individuals also received awards for their extraordinary contributions to the development of foreign investment in the Czech Republic.
GREATEST ECONOMIC BENEFIT – MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY
1) Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech for its automobile plant in Nošovice
- investment amount: CZK 30 billion
- number of new jobs: 3,000
2) IPS Alpha Technology Europe for its flat-screen display factory in Žatec
- investment amount: CZK 2.96 billion
- number of new jobs: 2,100
3) Hitachi Home Electronics (Czech) for its television/flat-screen display factory in Žatec
- investment amount: CZK 1.73 billion
- number of new jobs: 1,400
GREATEST ECONOMIC BENEFIT – BUSINESS SUPPORT SERVICES
1) IBM Global Services Delivery Center Czech Republic, s.r.o. for its information-technologies outsourcing centre in Brno
- investment amount: CZK 102.7 million
- number of new jobs: 821
2) Central European Aircraft Maintenance for its large-aircraft maintenance and repair centre in Mošnov
- investment amount: CZK 1.050 billion
- number of new jobs: 244
3) Red Hat Czech for its software development centre in Brno
- investment amount: CZK 38.78 million
- number of new jobs: 207
INVESTMENT WITH THE GREATEST INNOVATION POTENTIAL
1) Visteon – Autopal for its centre for the development of lighting, air-conditioning and cooling technology for the automotive industry in Nový Jičín
- investment amount: CZK 16.82 million
- number of new jobs: 62
2) EMERSON CLIMATE TECHNOLOGIES for its centre for the development of compressors for air-conditioning, cooling equipment and heating units
- investment amount: CZK 159.7 million
- number of new jobs: 48
3) Bang & Olufsen for its audio-, video- and telecommunications-equipment development centre
- investment amount: CZK 62.5 million
- number of new jobs: 70
SUBSUPPLIER OF THE YEAR 2006
1) RAY SERVICE
For significant improvement in the Supplier Development Programme for gaining
new orders
2) Wendell electronics
For substantial improvement in the Supplier Development Programme for gaining
new orders
3) Telčská strojírenská
For substantial improvement in the Supplier Development Programme for gaining
new orders
A special prize for extraordinary contribution to the development of foreign investment n the Czech Republic was awarded to Jaroslav Doležal, director of Honeywell’s Czech branch, and Zdeněk Kaiser, chief operating officer of Ingersoll-Rand Equipment Manufacturing Czech Republic.
MORE ABOUT THE WINNERS
Hyundai
Hyundai is preparing an investment worth over CZK in northern Moravia, where it will employ 3,000 people. The carmaker will manufacture passenger cars and transmissions at the industrial zone in Nošovice. In addition to the 3,000 jobs created directly by Hyundai’s investment, another ten to fifteen thousand jobs should be created among the factory’s suppliers.
IBM
IBM opened a centre for outsourcing information technologies in Brno in April 2006. The centre currently serves more than 500 clients around the world. The IBM Brno Integrated Delivery Center employs over 2,000 people of more than 70 different nationalities. The centre also offers its clients consulting services in numerous languages. The company is investing several hundreds of millions of crowns in employee training.
Visteon - Autopal
In 2006 Visteon – Autopal, s.r.o. decided to expand its existing technology centre for the development of lighting, air-conditioning and cooling technology for the automotive industry in Nový Jičín. The company is thus creating more than 60 new jobs, primarily for university-educated specialists in the area of mechanical engineering and electronics. The company is investing over CZK 22 million in these employees’ training.
RAY SERVICE
RAY SERVICE is a Czech company that provides comprehensive services in the area
of cable products and supplies cable components to customers in various fields,
such as military and aviation technology and industrial applications. The
company focuses on supplying products related to rail-transport technology,
milling machines and a range of other machinery. Ray Service was established in 1994 and currently has approximately 100 employees.