CzechInvest and AFI recognise the most significant investments in the Czech Republic

Hyundai, IBM and Visteon – Autopal are companies which last year made the greatest contributions to the development of the Czech economy and were thus winners in the Investor of the Year 2006 competition. Their primacy in this area was determined by a joint committee of experts. RAY SERVICE took the top honours in the Supplier of the Year category.  Special prizes were awarded to Jaroslav Doležal, executive director of the Czech branch of Honeywell, and Zdeněk Kaiser, COO of Ingersoll-Rand Equipment Manufacturing Czech Republic, for their extraordinary contribution to the development of foreign investment.

“Investors in the Czech Republic bring not only financing and new jobs to the country, but also new technologies and experience from international markets, which offer the greatest benefits for the Czech Republic,” says Alexandra Rudyšarová, acting CEO of CzechInvest. “It is important that domestic companies can also take part in these projects as suppliers of either components or services. This guarantees that the advantages of each investment are eventually brought to the Czech economy as a whole.”

“In recent years, the Czech Republic has become an increasingly attractive location primarily for technologically demanding projects that require reliable, top-level specialists,” says Martin Slabý, chairman of the Association for Foreign Investment.

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.

The competition included all companies that decided to invest in the Czech Republic in 2006. Information used for 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, which was comprised 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.

• 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) IPSAlpha Technology Europe

for its flat-screen display factory in Žatec

investment amount: CZK 2.96 billion

number of new jobs: 2,100

3) HitachiHome 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 centre for outsourcing information technologies 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 project 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

•  SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR 2006

 1) RAY SERVICE

For substantial 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

• AWARD FOR EXTRAORDINARY CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Jaroslav Doležal

National Executive, Honeywell

 Zdeněk Kaiser

COO, Ingersoll-Rand Equipment Manufacturing Czech Republic

More about the winners:

•  Hyundai

Hyundai is preparing an investment worth over CZK in northern Moravia and will employ 3,000 people there. The carmaker will manufacture passenger cars and transmissions at the industrial zone in Nošovice. In addition to the 3,000 direct jobs created 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 representing 70 different nationalities. The centre also offers its clients consulting services in numerous languages. The company is investing several million 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 providing 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.