Expanding Opportunities for Foreign and Local Companies in the Czech Republic #28
One of the European countries that I visit where I’ve seen the greatest changes and most rapid development is the Czech Republic. I first went to the then Czechoslovakia in 1977, long before the fall of the Iron Curtain, so obviously you’d expect the changes since then to be massive. But I’m actually referring to just the last decade. When I first set up a company in Prague in 2009, with a Czech colleague who remains a great friend, it was a relatively quiet city. The Czech Republic had only joined the EU in 2004, and it was still in a way searching for a business identity. The economy wasn’t very strong, but it was growing. Now, 10 years later, it’s become something of an economic powerhouse in Europe. Most people, of course, only know Prague as a tourist destination – and it’s certainly become one of the most visited cities in Europe. Even on a Monday evening in early April I had to fight my way across the Old Town Square and the Wenceslas Bridge was a sea of people with selfie sticks. The government is doing its best to encourage tourists to visit other parts of the country. But back to business. It may surprise you to learn that Prague figures in the Top 10 regions of the EU for GDP per capital – ahead of Paris, Copenhagen and Stockholm. The unemployment rate is practically zero. However, elsewhere in the Czech Republic there are plenty of opportunities for international businesses, especially those in the industrial sector. Although it’s right next to Austria and Germany, and a great central hub country in Europe from which to do business, costs are lower and there are a lot of good reasons to consider it for international expansion. When I was in Prague recently, I met Petr Heczko of CzechInvest, the government body promoting international trade. Also in our meeting was Marketa Havlova, who manages support for the many exciting Czech startup companies, mostly in the IT sector. She steers a really interesting programme to help those businesses expand internationally right from the word Go. In this podcast, I’m talking both with Petr and Marketa about a whole range of opportunities for international business in the Czech Republic. More information about the Czech Republic and CzechInvest can be found at https://www.growinternational.org