Taiwanese electronics giant eyes Czech expansion

The Taiwanese electronics supplier Foxconn is considering an investment project in the Czech Republic worth billions of crowns, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced on Monday. The investment would create thousands of new, highly qualified jobs, the ministry said in its press-release.

Photo: archive of Foxconn

The Czech government on Monday approved a mandate for Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka to sign a memorandum on cooperation between the Czech government and Foxconn. The memorandum is scheduled to be signed on July 21 at a meeting between the prime minister and Foxconn founder Terry Gou.

According to the industry and trade ministry, it is one of the largest potential projects, carried out within the framework of government investment incentives. Industry and Trade Minister Jan Mládek did not specify the exact investment amount. He said the ministry will hold talks about specific investment projects in the coming weeks.

Foxconn’s investment should include, among others, a research and design centre, the company’s only such facility in Europe. The company also intends to develop automated solution for production at its plants in Pardubice and Kutná Hora, the so-called Industry 4.0. Furthermore, Foxconn is planning to build data centres and to use distribution channels in China to create business platforms for exporting Czech products to markets in Asia.

The Taiwanese electronics producer has been operating in the Czech Republic since the late 1990s. It established its first production plant in the former Tesla factory in Pardubice in 2000 and later built a new plant in Černá za Bory for 50 million crowns. Its second plant in Kutná Hora was opened in 2008.

The worldwide electronics producer was established in 1974 by Terry Gou, originally providing plastic parts for television sets. Today the company employs over a million people across the globe. In 2013 the company reached a turnover of nearly 132 billion dollars and net profit of 3.5 billion US dollars.

Foxconn currently has around 5,500 employees in the Czech Republic. Sales of Foxconn in the Czech Republic hover around a hundred billion crowns a year, which makes it one of the ten biggest companies in the country. In 2013 the company posted a turnover of 97.3 billion crowns. Foxconn also ranks among the Czech Republic’s biggest exporters.