This July the Czech government officially approved (and reconfirmed this August) the provisioning of a subsidy in the amount of 750 million CZK for the financing of the Barbora Industrial Park in Karviná. This brownfield, together with the František II and Dukla industrial parks, comprise the Moravian-Silesian Development Zone, which is proving to be of considerable interest for investors in the Czech Republic. The zone and its environs are particularly of interest to automobile manufacturers and their sub-providers, several dozen of which operate in the Moravian-Silesian region. The zone similarly offers excellent opportunity for other sectors of industry, such as pharmaceuticals and health care. In the Dukla Industrial Park, the Swedish producer of professional medical devices, Mölnlycke Health Care ProcedurePak is building its new production plant on land of 7 ha for a total investment of around 1.6 billion CZK; it will employ 290 people. Mölnlycke’s commitment to Dukla is expected to stimulate for the arrival of additional companies and their subcontractors in the fields of pharmaceutics and medicine. The entry of these new investors within the Moravian-Silesian Development Zone contributes to the further transformation of the entire Moravian-Silesian Region and to a better quality of life in it.
The Moravian-Silesian Region: ideal conditions for companies involved in pharmaceutics and medicine
Teva Pharmaceuticals CR, the second company on the Czech market of generic medicines (right after Zentiva) is proof that the region provides attractive conditions for the operations of companies from the pharmaceutical industry and related fields and their further development. It employs about 1,400 people in its production plant in Opava; it is one of the largest producers in Central Europe and a significant exporter, primarily to the American market. Other companies from the field include FAVEA (Kopřivnice), Walmark (Třinec) and Mölnlycke Health Care (Karviná). The Olomouc-based companies FARMAK and OlChemIm also operate in the neighbouring Olomouc Region. The Moravian-Silesian Region has an excellent strategic position near Slovakia and Poland. Saneca Pharmaceuticals (Hlohovec) and HBM Pharma (Martin) have their headquarters within 100 km, while Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and NYCOMED operate in Bratislava, 150 km away.
Advantages of the region for companies from the fields of pharmaceutics and medicine
• A strategically advantageous position from which it is easily possible to supply the markets of the EU as well as Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
• Excellent infrastructure and transport accessibility.
• Strong industrial tradition in the region and the related abundance of qualified local manpower for all types of requests.
• Lower expenses for manpower in comparison with the most advanced countries of the EU.
• Great potential for research and development.
• Significant investment incentives and support on the level of the state and the local municipalities.
The Moravian-Silesian development zone: attractive synergy
The Moravian-Silesian Development Zone offers a wide range of opportunities to companies operating in pharmaceutics and related fields that are considering coming to Central Europe. This is comprised of three industrial parks, each with considerable land area: specifically the František II, Dukla and Barbora. All three are situated withiin the centre of a geographical triangle, defined by the cities of Ostrava, Karviná and Havířov; more than 1.2 million people live within a one hour ride from this geographic centre. The industrial parks are within a five-minute drive from each other, connected by a four-lane expressway that joins up with the D1 and D56 motorways.
