
Foreign direct investment in Czechia: developments and trends
Czechia offers an excellent environment to support investments with higher value added, i.e. investments that are technologically oriented or related to research and development, sometimes also referred to as high-tech investments, in key sectors (creative industries, healthtech, mobility, AI and digital, advanced industrial technologies, ecotech, space, aerospace and defence)). In 2022, more than two-thirds of arranged investments involved expansions of the operations of companies already established in Czechia.
The change in the structure of foreign direct investment in the past ten years indicates a new trend in Czechia. The number of projects in the fields of research and development, technology centres and business support services is rapidly increasing. Other trends in the area of investment include autonomous driving, electromobility, virtual and augmented reality, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and advanced materials.
Selected key investors in the Czechia by industrial sector | |||
Sector | Investor (country/region of origin) |
Sector | Investor (country/region of origin) |
Aerospace |
GE Aviation materials (US) |
High-tech mechanical engineering |
Bombardier (CA) |
Honeywell Aerospace (US) | Daikin (JP) | ||
Latecoere (FR) | Edwards (UK) | ||
Bell Helicopters (US) | Ingersoll Rand (US) | ||
UGMK (RU) | Siemens (DE) | ||
Automotive | Hyundai (KR) | Information and communication technologies |
Microsoft (US) |
Nexen Tire (KR) | Oracle (US) | ||
Robert Bosch (DE) | Red Hat (US) | ||
Toyota/Groupe PSA (JP/FR) | Solarwinds (US) | ||
Volskwagen (DE) | Tieto (FI) | ||
Business support services |
Accenture (US) | Life sciences | Lonza (CH) |
DHL (DE) | MSD (US) | ||
Anheuser-Busch InBev (BEL/US) | Otsuka Pharmaceutical (JP) | ||
Infosys (IN) | Synthon (NL) | ||
SAP (DE) | Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (IL) | ||
Electrical engineering and electronic |
ABB (CH) |
Nanotechnologies |
AGC (JP) |
ThermoFisher Scientific (US) | Thermofisher Scientific (US) | ||
Foxconn (TW) | Fibertex Nonwovens (DK) | ||
On Semiconductor (US) | Saint-Gobain (FR) | ||
Panasonic (JP) | Toray Industries (JP) | ||
Source: CzechInvest, 2021 |
Investment in individual years, 2012 - 2022 | |||
Number of projects |
Investment (EUR mil.) |
Number of jobs |
|
2012 | 81 | 970 | 8,530 |
2013 | 108 | 2,296 | 10,412 |
2014 | 147 | 4,144 | 16,842 |
2015 | 106 | 1,720 | 14,040 |
2016 |
101 | 2,405 | 12,102 |
2017 | 106 | 2,622 | 12,116 |
2018 | 82 | 1,587 | 6,146 |
2019 | 94 | 2,241 | 6,948 |
2020 | 27 | 622 | 2,734 |
2021 | 53 | 1,105 | 4,121 |
2022 | 24 | 776 | 2,655 |
Total | 929 | 20,488 | 96,646 |
Source: CzechInvest, 2021 |
Change in the structure investments |
1993 - 2000 Economic transition |
|
2000 - 2012 Greenfield investment in manufacturing |
|
2012 - 2018 Diversification of supportes activities |
|
2018 + Innovation |
|
Top 6 investments, 1993 - 2020 | |||
Investor | Sector | Country of origin |
Investment (EUR mil.) |
Volskwagen | Motor-vehicle manufacturing |
Germany |
739 |
Nemak | Motor-vehicle manufacturing |
Mexico | 443 |
Denso | Motor-vehicle manufacturing |
Japan | 373 |
Toyota/PSA | Motor-vehicle manufacturing |
Japan | 915 |
Hyundai Motor Company | Motor-vehicle manufacturing |
South Korea | 1,341 |
Nexen Tire Corporation | Rubber | South Korea | 887 |
Source: CzechInvest, 2021 |
Top 10 investment by country of origin, 2010 - 2022 | ||
Country of origin |
Number of projects |
Investment (EUR mil.) |
Czechia |
282 | 4,897 |
Germany | 185 | 4,379 |
United States | 124 | 2,203 |
Netherlands | 43 | 1,648 |
South Korea | 19 | 1,459 |
Japan | 59 | 1,421 |
Austria | 37 | 1,351 |
Switzerland | 45 | 613 |
France | 31 | 511 |
China | 22 | 479 |
Total | 775 | 18,961 |
Source: CzechInvest, 2023 |
Top 10 investment by sector, 2010 - 2022 | ||
Sector | Number of projects |
Investment (EUR mil.) |
Motor-vehicle manufacturing (automobiles, buses, trailers) | 252 | 6,541 |
Metalworking and metal-processing | 123 | 2,314 |
Paper and wood-processing | 43 | 2,097 |
Advanced Engineering | 104 | 1,554 |
Rubber | 17 | 1,432 |
Plastics | 73 | 1,317 |
Electrical devices (batteries, generators, cables, appliances) | 42 | 1,122 |
Food industry | 50 | 1,042 |
Miscellaneous | 50 | 941 |
Electronics (computers, optical instruments, electronics) |
32 | 868 |
Total | 786 | 19,228 |
Source: CzechInvest, 2023 |