Awards Presented to the Most Significant Investors and Business Properties of Last Year

Investment volume, the number of newly created jobs and benefit for the given region were among the factors in determining the most significant investors that chose the Czech Republic for their investments last year. Automotive Lighting took first place in the Manufacturing category, while Eaton Elektrotechnika and Comdata Czech took the top honours in the Research and Development and IT and Shared Services categories, respectively. The winners were announced by CzechInvest together with the Association for Foreign Investment on Wednesday, 6 November, at the Czech National Bank Congress Centre in Prague.

“The Czech Republic needs both foreign and domestic investors. I am pleased that we can give recognition to those that made the greatest contribution last year. However, smaller investors also deserve thanks. Today every newly created job is valuable for us, especially in regions such as Moravia-Silesia and Ustí,” says Minister of Industry and Trade Jiří Cienciala, who presented the award in the Manufacturing category.

 The second part of the evening was focused on business properties. CTPark Mladá Boleslav attracted the largest volume of investments in 2012 and thus won in the Industrial Zone category. The Roztoky Science and Technology Park Complex received the award in the category Property of the Year for Technology Centres and Services. A regenerated laundry facility that houses the headquarters of DIKRT was named Brownfield of the Year.

“Prepared business properties in which investors can find a haven are one of the criteria on the basis of which potential investors decide where to place their investments. CzechInvest administers a unique database in which any business property in the Czech Republic can be registered. We offer properties from the database to investors and winners of the competition are also drawn from it,” adds Marian Piecha, CEO of CzechInvest.

A completely new feature of this year’s edition of the event was the presentation of the AFI Prize for Significant Achievement in the Area of Investments, which was won by Tex Trading Cavaliere, a company that preserved dozens of jobs in the Jesiniky region and made it possible to continue the local culture tradition of tailoring. The newly introduced AFI Prize for Long-Term Contribution to the Investment Environment of the Czech Republic was awarded to the Czech-German Chamber of Trade and Industry.

“The AFI’s experience with investments in the previous year indicates that the Czech Republic will continue to maintain its position in Europe as a very attractive investment destination. Representatives of investors recognised in today’s awards ceremony only illustrate this fact,” says Kamil Blažek, chairman of the Association for Foreign Investment.

The most significant investors, whose projects were mediated by CzechInvest last year, were selected by an expert committee composed of representatives of CzechInvest, the AFI, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic. Deciding factors in the selection of the winners included, for example, the promised number of new jobs, investment volume and the unemployment rate in the given region. The expert committee also evaluated business properties registered in CzechInvest’s database. The criteria in the individual subcategories differed slightly. The deciding factors were, for example, the amount invested in construction, the number of newly created jobs, social benefit, enhancement of the given region’s attractiveness and the technological equipment of facilities. The AFI prizes were focused on the positive impact of individual entities’ activities on the Czech economy.

and Minister of Industry and Trade Jiří Cienciala. The event was hosted by Marcela Augustová. The main partners of the competition were ČEZ and ČSOB and the partner was CPI Group. The event was supported by Zátiší Group, AC&C Public Relations, QUIX, CzechTrade, the Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Crafts of the Czech Republic, Export Guarantee and Insurance Corporation and the Chamber of Commerce of the Czech Republic. The media partners of the event were the weekly Ekonom, Trade News and Komora.cz magazines and the ProByznys.info portal.

For more information please contact the CzechInvest Press Centre

Adéla Tomíčková, spokesperson, phone: +420 296 342 832, adela.tomickova@czechinvest.org

Contact to the AFI:

Martin Michalov, PR and Marketing Manager, tel.: 725 555 344, e-mail: martin.michalov@afi.cz