Other Korean companies will come, Confederation hopes

The Confederation of Industry welcomes the arrival of South Korean tyre maker Nexen into the Czech Republic.

„It is a good news that the Czech Republic persuaded a Korean investor to prefer the country against other competitors,“ the Confederation of Industry President Jaroslav Hanák said.

Hanák reminded the merits of the Vice President of the Confederation of Industry and former Minister of Industry and Trade Jiří Cienciala who, in his words, persuaded the Korean investors. „It will promote the economic growth and help to decrease the unemployment in the Ústecký region.“

An investment agreement with Nexen worth almost one billion euros has been approved by the Czech government on Monday 16^th June. In the first years of the investment project, Nexen will create at least 1 000 jobs in the industrial zone Triangle in Ústecky region, in North Bohemia, where it will operate.

„After two business missions to South Korea, I’m optimistic that other investors could come from this country, namely as subcontractors for Nexen,“ Hanák stressed.

Thanks to the investment of 22,8 billion CZK (0,844 billion euros), South Korea becomes the third most important investor in the Czech Republic, after Germany and Japan.

The President of the Confederation of Industry visited South Korea in November last year and also at the end of May 2014 when he headed a business mission of the Czech companies. He met there with the representatives of the large family-held conglomerates (chaebols) like Samsung, Hyundai and Doosan.

Nexen supplies tyres to the Hyundai and Kia car plants in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as well as to the Skoda Auto car plant in Mladá Boleslav.

Unemployment in the Northern Ústecký region reaches eleven percent. It is the highest from all the regions in the Czech Republic.

The number of jobs Nexen can offer can increase to as many as 2 500 and the amount of the investment can rise to up to 1,5 billion euros in the future. It would be the highest investment a foreign company has ever made in the Czech Republic.