Prestigious award Investor of the Year 2003

The key players among those foreign investors who last year opted for the Czech Republic as the location of their investment received the INVESTOR OF THE YEAR 2003 award from the hands of the Czech prime minister and members of his cabinet. During a festive ceremony at Prague Castle, the investment projects which contributed most to the advancement of the Czech economy were awarded prizes in three categories:

Biggest Economic Contribution – New Investment
Biggest Economic Contribution – Expansion
Investment with the Biggest Potential for Innovation

Biggest Economic Contribution – New Investment

1st place -DHL Information Services (Europe) s.r.o.- European Shared IT Services Centre – Prague
2nd place- ExxonMobil Business Support Center Czechia s.r.o. - Shared Services Centre for IT, finances, accounting and customer service – Prague
3rd place- Daikin Industries Czech Republic s.r.o.- Manufacturing air-conditioning components – Pilsen

Calculation base: Total investment x newly created jobs x degree of social benefit, expressed in terms of rate of unemployment

Biggest Economic Contribution – Expansion

1st place -Continental HT Tyres, s.r.o. - Production of tires – Zlín, Otrokovice
2nd place- TG Safety Systems Czech, s.r.o.- Production of steering wheels and airbags – Chomutov, Klášterec nad Ohří
3rd place-Panasonic AVC Networks Czech, s.r.o.- Production of television sets – Pilsen

Calculation base: Total investment x newly created jobs x degree of social benefit, expressed in terms of rate of unemployment

Investment with the Biggest Potential for Innovation

1st place -Siemens Kolejová vozidla s.r.o.- Development, innovation, design, and construction of rail vehicles – Prague, Ostrava
2nd place-TC INTER- INFORMATICS a.s.- Design of aircraft interior for Airbus and Aircabom – Prague
3rd place- Visteon/Autopal, s.r.o.- Development, innovation, and production of lighting, air-conditioning, and cooling technology for cars – Nový Jičín

Calculation base: Number of employed college graduates x total amount of investment into training and education

During the ceremony

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Carl H. Hahn
- honorary chairman of the Škoda Auto supervisory board and former chairman of the board of Volkswagen AG

received the special award of AFI, the Association for Foreign Investment, for the extraordinary contribution of Volkswagen AG to promoting foreign investment in the Czech Republic.

The INVESTOR OF THE YEAR award is conferred under the programme known as the“Partnership to Support Foreign Direct Investment in the Czech Republic”run by CzechInvestin cooperation with the Association for Foreign Investment – AFI,under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Award candidates forINVESTOR OF THE YEAR are those companies who presented their investment plan in the given year. The awarding criteria are based on the company’s application for investment incentives in which the company undertakes to invest a specific amount and to create a minimum number of direct new jobs. The jury was chosen from representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, CzechInvest, the CMC Graduate School of Business, and the weekly business journal Ekonom. It elected the winners from those projects administered by CzechInvest which presented their investment plan in 2003 and have received, or are still receiving, incentives based on a proposal by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.