In Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, investors learn about doing business and living in the Czech Republic

A series of investment seminars focused on the investment environment in the Czech Republic and Central and Eastern Europe took place in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, Japan, from 17 to 19 November 2015. The seminars were organised by the second-biggest Japanese bank, SMBC, which opened its branch for Central and Eastern Europe in Prague last year, and CzechInvest. The attendees were primarily from the ranks of manufacturing firms and consulting companies that are interested in developing their activities in the CEE region.  

“After a slowdown spanning several years, the Czech Republic and Central Europe coming are back on the radar of Japanese firms, which is apparent from the increased activity of Japanese banks, including SMBC, in the region. The reasons for this are primarily the region’s long-term stability, acceptable cost/performance ratio and, especially, the economic slump in Asia, where Japanese banks have intensively focused their attention in recent years,” says Michal Žižlavský, director of CzechInvest’s office in Japan. The seminars featured presentations of the current activities of Japanese investors in the Czech Republic as well as topics that most interested the local attendees, such as the region’s workforce, electricity prices and new aspects of the European automobile market.

The Czech Republic was also represented by Japanese speakers, Tadamoto Node of the Prague office of the consulting company Deloitte, and Ichiro Higuchi, director of SMBC’s Prague branch deputy chairman of the Japanese Chamber of Industry and Trade in the Czech Republic, who not only presented the current development of Central European economies and systems of investment incentives, but also shared their experience with living in the Czech Republic from the perspective of a Japanese citizen residing in Prague.