CzechInvest has Already Received 100 Investment-Incentives Applications this Year

3 Jun. 2014 | CzechInvest, MPO ČR | Investment-incentives system to undergo changes.

CzechInvest received exactly 100 applications for investment incentives in the period from January to mid-May 2014. By contrast, 98 investors applied for state aid in the whole of last year. Investment projects undertaken this year should bring to the Czech Republic investments worth more than CZK 55 billion and create up to 10,000 new jobs in future. The largest number of these projects will be located in the Moravia-Silesia and Ústí regions.

"Investors are evidently interested in the Czech Republic. I am pleased that they are preparing to invest in both Moravia-Silesia and Ústí, which suffer from high unemployment. In light of the number of received investment plans, there is an obvious revival not only of the markets, but also of CzechInvest, which plays an indispensible role in the process of gaining investments for the Czech Republic," says Minister of Industry and Trade Jan Mládek.

graf

"Hitachi Automotive Systems Czech, the local branch of the Japanese automotive-components manufacturer, is preparing to expand its factory at the Triangle industrial zone in the Ústí region; we will gradually release the names of other investors," adds Ondřej Votruba, acting CEO of CzechInvest, who also states that support from the current government is assisting CzechInvest in its efforts to attract new investors to the country. "For example, in June we're flying with Minister Mládek to China, where among other things we will present investment opportunities in the Czech Republic to potential investors."

The Czech Republic's system of investment incentives will undergo changes in July due to a European Commission regulation that reduces the intensity of state aid. A number of investors wanted to start the process under the existing conditions, which CzechInvest guaranteed for applications submitted by the middle of March. However, the agency is still receiving applications, indicating that investors are not being put off by the reduced level of aid. The new European Commission regional-aid rules will also require an alteration of Czech legislation in the form of an amendment to the Investment Incentives Act, which was drafted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

"However, the Czech Republic's Investment environment is not based solely on incentives," Ondřej Votruba points out. Therefore, CzechInvest has prepared the Action Plan of the Czech Republic for Supporting Investment Inflow 2014-2017, which has the purpose of resolving current weaknesses in other areas of investment support, e.g. in the areas of infrastructure and human resources. "Our goal was not only to map the main problems of the domestic investment environment, but also to propose solutions that require interdepartmental cooperation. We have clearly arranged everything in the form of twelve action cards; we didn't write a novel," says Ondřej Votruba. The action plan is now being assessed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and other interested institutions will be subsequently familiarised with it.