Association for Foreign Investment

2004/03/11, Official announcement of the best Czech suppliers

Award ceremony - Supplier of the Year 2003

Awards for the best Czech suppliers to multinational corporations

Minister of Industry & Trade, Mr. Milan Urban, handed out the awards of "Supplier of the Year 2003". These are granted by CzechInvest - Business Support Agency of the Czech Republic in cooperation with the Association for Foreign Investment - AFI, under the auspices of Ministry of Industry & Trade.

The awards are rank in three categories:

• "Contracts concluded with the assistance of CzechInvest"
• "The Best Twinning Company under the Supplier Development Programme"
• "Company with the Largest Business Process Improvement under the Twinning Programme for Supplier Development"

"Contracts concluded with the assistance of CzechInvest"

(criterion: volume of concluded contracts in 2003)

1. BÖHM PLAST-Technik s.r.o – production of plastic injection-molded components (contract with Andrew Co)
2. DROP-PRESS s.r.o. – production of aluminium cast pieces (contract with Andrew Co)
3. První brněnská strojírna Velká Bíteš, a.s. (machine works company) – manufacturing of cast pieces and compressors (contract with Honeywell Co)

"The Best Twinning Company under the Supplier Development Programme"

(criterion: overall rating of the company using the EFQM model of measuring)

1. RIM-TECH a.s. – production large-sized plastic components
2. ADACO a.s. – production of components for automotive industry
3. FP Formagrau s.r.o. – production of technical precision products from synthetics

"Company with the Largest Business Process Improvement under the Twinning Programme for Supplier Development"

(criterion: evaluation of the company's activity plan drafted and executed as part of the Twinning Programme)

1. RIM-TECH a.s. – production large-sized plastic components
2. GALVIA s.r.o. – electroplating for automotive industry
3. KOVOHUTĚ Příbram a.s. – recycling and productin of led and precious metals

"The opportunity to cooperate with supranational enterprises is one of the greatest benefits of direct foreign investment for the domestic companies and we provide intensive support to the influx of foreign capital," says the Minister of Industry and Trade, Milan Urban, adding, "We endeavor to help our business companies form long-term relations with the important players in the field of global economy. Especially for the small and medium-sized companies in the Czech Republic, joining the supplier networks of supranational chains means an exceptional growth stimulus. On the other hand, a very pleasant and also strongly motivating form of support for subcontractors is the annual awarding of companies with the best results."

"In addition to commercial benefits a prosperity arising from the upcoming accession to the EU, one must not omit the need of Czech companies for comprehensive and, above all, long-lasting development," adds Martin Jahn, General Manager of CzechInvest: "In it one thing to understand how to do business in the Czech Republic, but it quite another thing when the 'playground' increases ten or twenty times, because that changes the rules of the game altogether. The better a company is prepared for this challenge, the faster is it going to learn and continue to develop," Martin Jahn points out.

Supplier Development Programme has been running through the CzechInvest Agency, with contributions from EU funds, since 1999. Its objective is to intensify and improve contacts amongst domestic subcontractors and supranational production companies already active or about to invest in the CR. The foremost aim of the Program is to improve the competitiveness of Czech subcontractors, so that they be able to become subcontractors supplying supranational enterprises, as well as to assist supranational enterprises in their search for new partners amongst Czech producers.

The CzechInvest database, open to the public on the Agency's web pages, currently features over 1000 Czech companies - potential subcontractors.

The Twinning Programme is also part of the Agency's support for Czech suppliers. Direct achievements of the first phase of the Twinning Programme's implementation were contracts for Czech companies at a total amount of USD 20.55 Mio. Towards the end of 2002, the second phase was initiated focusing on improvement of the quality of suppliers in the sphere of machine engineering, pharmaceutics, biotechnologies, and automobile and aircraft components. During the first phase, fifty Czech companies were selected (using EFQM model) and were subjected to an audit. The outcome of the audit formed the base for drafting these companies' activity plans. Companies that did the best at fulfilling these plans were invited to join the subsequent phase of intensive support, where specific consulting services are available to them in order to help them meet the sophisticated criteria of their future customers.