Toray Textiles begins productions in new facility

30 Jan. 2014 | CzechInvest, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Toray Textiles Central Europe | The Japanese printing-plate manufacturer invested roughly CZK 1 billion in its expansion in Prostějov.

Toray Textiles Central Europe s.r.o., the Czech branch of the Japanese firm Toray Industries, a manufacturer of waterless offset printing plates, ceremoniously commenced production at its new manufacturing facility in Prostějov on Wednesday, 29 January 2014. In addition to representatives of CzechInvest, which helped to mediate the investment, the event was attended by other important guests, including the Japanese ambassador to the Czech Republic, Tetsuo Yamakawa, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Milan Hovorka, and Akihiro Nikkaku, president of Toray Industries.

“Toray began construction of the new manufacturing facility in September 2012. At that time, the company was one of the first applicants for investment incentives pursuant to the amended Investment Incentives Act that had recently come into force,” says Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Milan Hovorka. “Now, after not quite two years, fifty people have found work here.”

“Japanese investors have long ranked among the most active foreign investors in the Czech Republic,” say Marian Piecha, CEO of CzechInvest. “Since 2000 with our support, they have invested more than CZK 106 billion here and have thus helped to create more than 22,000 jobs.”

The production of plates for more ecological waterless offset printing is the first operation of its kind in Europe. “We have been operating in the Czech Republic since 1998. For the expansion of local production with this new technology, we based our decision on, among other things, the good work ethic and professionalism of the local workers. Favourable conditions, including the helpful approach of Czech authorities, also played a role in the decision,” says Akihiro Nikkaku, President of Toray Industries, Inc.

The output of the new production line is intended not only for the European market, as Toray Textiles Central Europe will also supply its products to North and South American and the Middle East. The Japanese plant in Okazaki, which has been working with the new technology since 2003, will continue to supply the domestic market as well as other markets in Asia and Oceania.