CzechInvest: three quarters of mayors are interested in a new investor, but the problem is the lack of available space.
Most mayors in the Czech Republic are interested in developing their own local economy. They primarily want to attract investors from the advanced manufacturing industry. However, the problem they encounter is the lack of suitable development sites where new companies can set up their business. This and other unique data was collected by CzechInvest thanks to the Business Environment Passporting project.
“Our goal is that this data from the project will be used in a wide range of services for municipalities. At the same time, if you are preparing documents for investors, you need to have the Czech investment environment mapped. This was the impetus that led us to the project. So that we could offer investors the best data,” says Michal Urban, Director of the Business Environment Division of CzechInvest.
During last year and this year, the CzechInvest Agency obtained data through interviews with representatives of municipalities and towns. The data shows, for example, that the vast majority of mayors meet with their entrepreneurs and cooperate with each other on the development of the municipality. Almost half of the municipalities support business development in various ways. At the same time, however, municipalities are troubled by the number of brownfields that hinder community development. Qualitative data collection will continue in 2023.
“In the two years that the project has been running, we have collected an enormous amount of data. For the most part, we are the primary source of this data, as we have personally visited 387 towns and municipalities in the Czech Republic. At the moment, we have a lot of information about development areas, brownfields, business support, but also about upcoming investments,” adds Tomáš Tázlar, a project analyst from CzechInvest.
In addition to the passporting project, the CzechInvest Agency is also organising an online academy for mayors for municipalities, an educational project focused on five key areas for representatives of municipalities and cities, serving as an inspirational platform for the development of municipalities, cities and the entire region. Other services include the regular compilation of good practice examples, a marketplace platform for smart solutions for cities and the organisation of events across the country’s regions.
Individual unique data on the investment environment and local economy in the Czech Republic were also presented at the November conference organised by the CzechInvest agency. The invitation was accepted by representatives of the Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of the Interior, the Union of Towns and Municipalities of the Czech Republic, the Union of Local Authorities and the National Network of Healthy Cities, as well as developers in the field of construction and operation of business parks.
Source: CzechInvest and CTK
