Czech Nanofibres Again Head for Japan

The Nanofibres 2012 international conference, which is held in Tokyo, Japan, on 4-5 June 2012 focuses on, among other things, new sources of energy, environmentally friendly technologies and biotechnology in connection with nanofibres. Czech companies and institutions have the opportunity to present their results in the area of research, development and production of nanofibres. Their participation in the conference is part of the sixth Czech-Japan Technology Days event organised by CzechInvest, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Czech nanotechnology is conquering the word; there’s no doubt about that. Our task is support Czech nanotechnology firms and research institutions in this endeavour and thus make it possible for them to show the world the kinds of ideas that originate in this relatively small country in the middle of Europe,” says Minister of Industry and Trade Martin Kuba, adding: “Nanotechnology is a field of the future and the cost of supporting this sector will be returned many times over.”

“Czech-Japan Technology Days are an ideal opportunity to present the incomparable results achieved by Czech companies and institutions abroad and to gain new contacts and possibilities for further development. Czech inventions and products have received strong interest in Japan in recent years. In the ideal case,  the upcoming event could result in the establishment of strategic partnerships, which would be an important success for the Czech Republic,” says Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel Schwarzenberg.

“Czech nanofibres will be represented in Tokyo by the companies Contipro Biotech, Elmarco and Nafigate. Of the Czech universities and institutions engaged in research and development of nanotechnologies, Brno University of Technology and the Central European Institute of Technology will have representatives at the conference,” says Miroslav Křížek, CEO of CzechInvest, adding:  “We were able to arrange Czech participation in the event thanks to Nafigate, which operates a global information portal about nanofibres.”

Jana Růžičková of Contipro Biotech, Aleš Gardian of Elmarco and Ladislav Mareš of Nafigate will speak at the conference in Tokyo. Part of the conference will comprise a trade fair where Nafigate, Elmarco and the Materials Research Centre of Brno University of Technology will exhibit. Within the accompanying programme, participants in the Czech-Japan Technology Days will also take part in a preview of the Nanospider NS 4S1000U in Elmarco’s showroom in Tokyo.

“We are pleased that we can present our results showing that the Czech Republic ranks among the world leaders in the area of nanotechnology. At the conference we will present the results of our patented technology which in a range of cases enables a more than ten-fold increase in production of nanofibres,” explains Jana Růžičková, head of the group for research and development of nanofibres from biopolymers at Contipro Biotech, adding: “This proves that not only universities but also private firms can become top-level research facilities.”

“We want to present at the conference a model of a global centre of excellence in the area of nanofibres. We are joining together the world’s top facilities and creating a global research centre while implementing specific projects which we want to present. The complexity and global nature of our activities make it possible to offer companies and investors development of energy-efficient technologies and products with high value added,” says Ladislav Mareš, chairman of the board of directors of Nafigate Corporation.  

Representatives of the Materials Research Centre of the Faculty of Chemistry at Brno University of Technology will present a technology for production of polymeric materials – bioplastics suitable for fiberisation. Thanks to their mechanical properties, bioplastics can compete with traditional plastics, but are environmentally friendly due to their biodegradability. In addition, bioplastics are fully biocompatible, which enables their application in medicine,” says Martin Weiter, head of the research programme at Brno University of Technology, who further states that it is possible to process bioplastics into nanofibres, thus opening up a broad spectrum of applications not only in medicine, but also in the packaging industry and agriculture.

The Czech Technology Days project supports international cooperation in the areas of research, development, technology and innovation. Its greatest benefit consists in the establishment of new contacts and cooperation between research institutions, political representatives and representatives of the private sector. More information is available at http://www.czechtechnologydays.org/. The upcoming Czech Technology Days event in Japan under the name CzechNanoDays is loosely connected with the Nano tech 2012 international trade fair, which took place in Tokyo in February this year and at which the Czech Republic had a national pavilion. More information is available at http://www.czechinvest.org/en/czech-nanotechnology-firms-penetrate-the-japanese-market and http://www.czechinvest.org/en/the-czech-republic-among-the-nanotechnology-elite.

For more information please contact the CzechInvest Press Centre

Štěpánka Filipová, spokesperson, phone: +420 296 342 538, stepanka.filipova@czechinvest.org

Contact to Ministry of Industry and Trade:

Veronika Forejtová, spokesperson , phone: +420 224 853 291, forejtova@mpo.cz

Contact to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic:

Vit Kolar, spokesman, mobile: +420 724 034 154, Vit_Kolar@mzv.cz

CzechInvest is celebrating its 20th anniversary!

CzechInvest has been supporting the inflow of foreign direct investments to the Czech Republic for twenty years already. Since its establishment in 1992, the agency has mediated 1,798 investment projects with the total value of more than CZK 715 billion, thanks to which nearly a quarter of a million new jobs have been created. CzechInvest contributes to improving the overall business environment in the Czech Republic and strives to increase the competitiveness of the Czech economy in changing conditions. Since 2004, the agency has also operated as the implementation body for EU structural funds and has regional offices staffed by specialists in every regional capital in the Czech Republic. CzechInvest’s CEO, Miroslav Křížek, was named Manager of the Year 2011 in the Business and Public Services sector.