Prime Minister Sobotka holds talks with the management of prominent Korean companies on their investments in the Czech Republic

“We held discussions with the company executives on the investments the Czech Republic succeeded in attracting, for example, in 2014, which formed the basis for the creation of thousands of new jobs in our country. The main investments were made by Hyundai Mobis and Nexen Tire. I also confirmed our country’s keen interest in expanding these investments and business plans in the future. I am pleased that Korean investors have appreciated the commitment and diligence of Czech employees and the way our technical specialists can benefit the competitiveness and productivity of their companies. I also informed our Korean partners of the action taken so far by my government to boost the stability and attractiveness of the Czech Republic as an apt European area for foreign direct investment,” said Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka.

Hyundai Motor Company is the largest South Korean investor in the Czech Republic. Its automobile production factory in Nošovice, in North Moravia, has an annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles and is Hyundai’s first manufacturing plant in Europe. Hyundai Mobis now has plans to produce lighting systems in the Ostrava – Mošnov Strategic Industrial Zone. The plant is potentially worth EUR 146 billion and will create more than 900 direct jobs.

Nexen, the tyre maker and supplier to companies such as Škoda, signed an investment contract with the Czech Republic last year for the construction of a plant in the Triangle Industrial Zone worth EUR 829 million, which is projected to generate more than 1,000 direct jobs. The foundation stone of what is set to be Europe’s most advanced tyre making plant will be laid this autumn, with production due to start in 2018.

Korea is the Czech Republic’s third largest non-European trade partner. In the past five years alone, mutual trade has doubled.