Czech Republic

Eight regions go to make up the Czech Republic, with Prague as the capital and Brno forming the second largest city. Strategically located, the Czech Republic offers access to the Central and Eastern European markets as well as the EU. Travel is via an international airport at Prague and domestic airports located in Karlovy, Vary, Ostrava and Brno.

The major sectors represented in the country are automotive, pharmaceutical, environmental technologies, electronics and precision engineering.

Taking all sectors, there are now over 1,200 foreign-backed companies manufacturing in the Czech Republic employing more than 250,000 people. Investors include Matsushita, Motorola, Siemens, Invensys, Ingersoll Rand, Philips and Tyco.

There is a high level of general education in the country, with a particular emphasis on science and technical subjects. There are over 45,000 students at seven technological universities, the largest of which is Prague CVUT, Europe’s second oldest technical university, teaching more than 17,000 students.

There are also a number of corporate research centers, including ON Semiconductors’ design center, Rockwell Automation’s Independent Advanced Technical Laboratory and Honeywell’s R&D center in Prague developing control software and tools.

Economic Development

Of the city/regions of the new Member States;

• Prague is the richest (#4 total in EU)... followed by:
•  #12.   Bratislava - (Bratislavsky kraj) (Slovakia) follows with 160 % (39 900 PPS) in position 12 of the 271  statistical areas (known as NUTS 2 regions of the countries examined here
• #94.  Zahodna Slovenija (Slovenia) at 107 % (26 600 PPS)
• #111. Kozep-Magyarorszag (Hungary) at 103 % (25 600 PPS)
• #146.  Cyprus at 94 % (23 300 PPS)

With the exception of four other regions (Bucureşti–Ilfov in Romania, Mazowieckie in Poland, Malta and Středni Čechy in the Czech Republic), all the other regions of the new Member States have a per inhabitant GDP in PPS of less than 75 % of the EU-27 average.

read more in our page: European Union - cohesion policy - Regions and development

Regions / Cities

- Czech Republic Prague Plzen Brno Ostrava

Investment Promotion Agency:

Mr Rene Samek

Marketing Director

CzechInvest

Stepanska 15

Prague

120 00

Czech Republic

tel: + 42 (0) 2 9634 2500

fax: + 42 (0) 2 9634 2502

Prague

Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic and its largest city. Its main sectors of industry are in financial services, particularly insurance and banking, information technology and life sciences.

There are 24 science and technology parks in Prague, occupied by 300 companies employing around 2,800 people. As well as accommodation, these technology parks offer technological and support services to the growing companies.

In another area of training and people development, The Prague Banking Institute offers courses in the field of banking and finance

Plzen

Plzen is the fourth largest city in the Czech republic. Close to the German border and 60 minutes from the capital city of Prague, it has a population of around 170,000 people. The international airport at Prague offers access to European and overseas markets.

Plzen has a traditional manufacturing base and is home to the car manufacturer, Skoda, which employs 17,000 people in the region. The region also has a strong reputation in electrical engineering.

Overseas companies attracted to the area include Panasonic and Matsushita. Panasonic chose to locate on one of the citys’ industrial parks. One of these parks, the Mestsky Industrial Park, has been specifically developed for companies from the electronics (computers, software, consumer goods), automotive, optical, telecom equipment and medical equipment sectors.

There is also a Business Innovation Center/incubator on one of the parks for those investors looking to tap into the research base at the University of West Bohemia or the medical faculty of the Charles University Prague.

Brno

Brno lies in the central part of Europe, in the Czech Republic of which it is the second largest city. It is the center of the province of Moravia and is located at the crossroads of the trans-european highway network. An international airport offers flights to Eindhoven and Zurich and the airports at Prague and Vienna are less than 2 hours drive time.

Brno has an extensive manufacturing base with an economy dependent on industrial production.

Amongst the most prominent international companies operating in Brno are ABB, Siemens and Philips.

Brno is the second largest center of education in the Czech Republic, after Prague.

The region has six universities with 26 faculties, where 28,803 students are enrolled in regular day studies.

Yet another attraction for high-tech investors is the Czech Technology Park which is being developed as a joint venture between Bovis Construction and the City of Brno. The project is in co-operation with the VUT, the city’s Technical University. The park area covers 120 hectares of land and is intended to provide a total of 175 000 m2 of mixed commercial accommodation for office, research and light industry, together with associated retail, leisure and services facilities.

Ostrava

Ostrava is a town in the Czech Republic situated just15 km from the nearest border crossing to Poland and 55 km from Slovakia. The town has undergone massive structural change over the past few years as it has moved from an economy based on mining and steel to one which is dependent on the service sector. There has also been effort put into developing the infrastructure in the town which now boasts premises for exhibitions, trade fairs, cultural meetings, and sports competitions.

There are two institutes of higher education in the town providing the skills which the people of Ostrava need to adopt to the new knowledge-driven economy.

Macro economic Profile 2008:

Slovakia, Poland & Czech Republic: 

Three countries have successfully withstood the current inflationary test—Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Their present annual inflation is a moderate 4 to 7 percent, and their high growth rates continue. These countries all pursue inflation targeting, which means that their independent central banks focus on keeping inflation within a low target band, while maintaining tight monetary policy with positive real interest rates. Hence, their floating exchange rates have risen significantly in relation to the euro.

External Links

Library of Congress: Country Studies

Excellent source of historical information about a country; "The Country Studies Series presents a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world.

• Czechoslovakia (Former)