The fifth annual conference of the Association for Foreign Investments - AFI was subtitled "The Future of the Czech Economy: Investment, Decarbonization and Global Influences" and took place, as in previous years, in the premises of the Congress Center of the Czech National Bank. The conference, which offered insights into current trends and the latest topics of the economic and investment environment through the eyes of prominent experts, was attended this year by over two hundred guests from the ranks of leading Czech economists, top managers of successful Czech and foreign companies, as well as representatives of foreign embassies, representatives of the public sector and the media.

"Today's conference helped hold a mirror to the Czech investment environment, and for me the key issue is the trust and positive mood of the entire society, that investment and development are necessary and we must stand up for them together across the political scene. I am happy that this year we managed to offer inspiring and attractive panel discussions to the participants of the conference, in which fundamental topics were discussed, such as the influence of deglobalization on investments or the decarbonization of the Czech Republic and its economic effects. I believe that this conference helped to underline that we need to fundamentally change our investment environment and approach to industrial policy," says Kamil Blažek, Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Association for Foreign Investments - AFI.

In the individual discussion panels, in addition to leading Czech economists, representatives of the state sector and managers of important companies operating in the country, Jan Michal, appointed general director of the CzechInvest agency, and Pavel Sovička, director of Panattoni Development Czech Republic & Slovakia, also spoke in the spring. Dominik Stroukal moderated the afternoon.

"In the 5th year, we have traditionally left enough space for a discussion related to the long-term sustainability of industrial production, especially with regard to its energy intensity, the price and availability of low-emission energy and the path to carbon neutrality. Undoubtedly, the development and renewal of nuclear resources is an important piece in the whole puzzle. It is good that the Czech government has taken a very important step in this direction in the transformation of the Czech energy industry, in which we will not be able to do without nuclear energy in the future. At the same time, it will be the largest investment in history, which will bring a number of Czech suppliers new contracts and possible involvement in projects outside the Czech Republic, potentially for several decades," comments Martin Dittrich, business development director at Bilfinger Czech Republic and a member of the Steering Committee on the conference topics. Association for Foreign Investments - AFI.

AFI Annual Awards 2024
The celebratory part of the program was devoted to the awarding of the annual AFI 2024 awards. The award for a significant undertaking in the field of investment went to Vitesco Technologies, a company specializing in the development and production of drive systems for the automotive industry with an emphasis on vehicle electrification. The jury praised the extensive expansion in which the company invests in the development and production of advanced propulsion systems. The Czech branch of the company employs several thousand people in the country and plans to offer another 1,000 jobs. As part of the expansion in the new location (Ostrava-Hrušov), the company plans to invest up to 5 billion crowns, which represents one of the largest expansions in domestic history.

The AFI and CzechInvest agency award for innovative idea of ​​the year went to Born Digital for the digital human project, applied specifically to the investigation of cybercrime in the Central Bohemia region. Their digital investigator, developed with the help of AI technology, helps the Police of the Central Bohemian Region in the investigation by autonomous communication with the public prosecutor, banks, domain providers and other relevant parties, automatically analyzes data from the case or creates visualization of financial flows of stolen money, etc.

The couple Aleš Cáb and Josef Švejda, representatives of the management of the onsemi company, received the award for long-term contribution to the investment environment. Aleš Cáb and Josef Švejda have long been playing key roles in the development of innovative technologies and their introduction to the market. Under their leadership, onsemi became an important employer and investor in the Czech Republic and contributed significantly to the development of the local economy. Both awards emphasize long-term cooperation with universities and research institutions, their mentoring and support help new generations of experts in bringing innovative ideas to the Czech investment environment.

"The stories of award-winning companies always fill me with optimism that the Czech Republic has a lot to offer important investors. At the same time, the discussion panels are also very enriching, from which a number of challenges arise, the overcoming of which can make our country even more welcoming for all entrepreneurs without distinction. The decarbonization of industry, for example, is a very important process, but it is certainly worth undertaking. The result will be greater energy independence from third countries and long-term operational savings, i.e. greater competitiveness for the Czech and, by extension, the European economy," Klára Sobotková, regional development director at Panattoni and vice-chair of the Steering Committee of the Association for Foreign Investments, comments on the awards and the topics of the annual conference. AFI.

The chairman of the AFI association, Kamil Blažek, added to the awards ceremony: "I would say that a large part of the nominations this year are united not only by the search for efficiency and the use of artificial intelligence tools, but also by a certain line of social overlap. I congratulate all awardees not only for the prizes, but especially for the great projects they can be proud of. And I am sincerely looking forward to the direction in which this development will take place and what nominations we will read in a year."

The Association for Foreign Investment - AFI presents its annual awards each year to recognize companies and individuals for their efforts in innovation and technological progress with regional as well as long-term impact. Last year, Czech companies Nebesys and Kvados and the former president of the Union of Industry and Transport Jaroslav Hanák took home the award.

Survey of the business environment in the Czech Republic 2024
Part of the program of the annual conference was the presentation of the results of a survey of the business environment in the Czech Republic, which AFI conducts annually among companies across the Czech Republic. 248 companies of various fields took part in this year's survey.

A number of positive findings emerge from the research. Probably the main reason is that 76% of the corresponding companies are planning further investments in the Czech Republic. The number is even 2 percentage points higher than the survey showed a year ago (last year's result was 74%). The survey confirmed the trends of digitization, robotization and the use of artificial intelligence tools. Compared to last year, the percentage of respondents who plan investments in digitization and robotization increased from 53% to 58%. The percentage of firms planning to invest in implementing AI tools rose from 24% to 40%, an increase of 16 percentage points.