The conditions for winning investment incentives from the Czech government are set to change, following years of criticism. The charge has long been that incentives serve primarily to attract investors interested in producing lower value-add products using the cheapest possible labor. The new push is to encourage investment by smaller and mid-size businesses that are focusing on technology. “We’re moving away from the usual way of attracting investors,” Silvana Jirotková, director of CzechInvest, told Hospodářské noviny. “We’re saying clearly that our priority are high tech things and the principles of Industry 4.0.” CzechInvest is the investment agency of the Czech government that has until recently focused on bringing foreign investors into the country. The new incentives have not been finalized yet, but one is that 80 percent of the employees of the company have to have salaries equal to that of the region where the company is registered. Other criteria being considered are the percentage of the company’s expenses that goes towards research and development, and a minimum percentage of university graduates could also be set.
