CzechInvest to attract more Korean investors

In only the past two years the Czech Republic has attracted, via CzechInvest, an impressive number of investment projects from South Korea. These investments in new enterprises, which will employ nearly 7,500 people, are worth more than CZK 42 billion. According to CzechInvest's estimates, the number of such projects should continue to grow. Today CzechInvest is again taking a more direct approach to Korean investors by launching a new Korean-language internet portal focused on investment in the Czech Republic. Those interested in the portal will find it at www.czechinvest.org/ko.

"The portal will be useful primarily for those companies that are only studying the terrain, so to speak, or that haven't yet decided where to implement their investments," says Roman Cermak, CEO of CzechInvest, explaining the purpose of the Korean-language site. "The site provides basic information about the Czech Republic, the local business environment and investment opportunities. Its aim is thus to induce potential Korean investors to decide to come to the Czech Republic."

This is confirmed by Kwang-Seok Kim, CzechInvest's consultant for Korean investment: "Of course, the Czech and Korean environments are different - not only in business, but also in ordinary, daily life. The site will help new investors to quickly find their bearings, as it will provide comprehensive information about the Czech Republic - from a description of the labour market and an analysis of the customs system to, for example, an overview of Czech cities on the UNESCO World Heritage List," says K.S. Kim, detailing the portal's benefits.
The Hyundai car plant in Nosovice is currently the largest Korean investment in the Czech Republic. Hyundai's decision to invest in the Czech Republic has attracted other South Korean companies to the country - so far these have mostly been suppliers for the Nosovice plant, though other companies have decided to invest here as well. For example, at the end of last year Kos Wire invested nearly three-quarters of a billion Czech crowns in the abandoned site of a former sugar refinery in Lovosice, where the company will manufacture metal products.

"We want to make maximum use of the current interest of Korean firms in investing in the Czech Republic. The Korean-language information portal is only one of the steps we are taking in this regard - we have a special consultant for Korean investment and we are preparing informative brochures in Korean," adds Roman Cermak. "At present, we are in discussions with several other potential investors from South Korea, though to estimate the exact number would only be speculation. Nevertheless, the fact is that two or three projects are already close to completion."

The Korean portal represents the sixth foreign-language version of CzechInvest's website. Besides Czech and Korean, there are English, German, French and Japanese versions of the site, which every month attracts over 50,000 visitors on average. The agency provides information on the Czech Republic's business environment at www.czechinvest.org.

More about CzechInvest

CzechInvest is a national agency with the task of attracting foreign direct investment into the manufacturing industry and the business support services and technology centres sector. In addition to this, the agency promotes the Czech Republic abroad and acts as an intermediary between the EU and small and medium-sized enterprises during the implementation of EU Structural Funds in the Czech Republic and facilitates the access of entrepreneurs to state-aid resources. In its history, the agency has played a role in 771 investment projects worth over CZK 540 billion.