CzechInvest: big changes for first half of 2009 in investment value, quantity and structure

The value of investments in the Czech Republic has taken a year-on-year dive for the first half of 2009 to 10.5 billion crowns, the governmental investment agency CzechInvest has announced. The decline comes amid a growing number of investment projects, which increased for the same period from 16 to 140. CzechInvest says that nearly half of the new investments have been made in information technologies, and that investment in services and research and development have for the first time exceeded investments in manufacturing.

Meanwhile, higher unemployment levels in the country are increasing investor interest in Central and Western Bohemia, CzechInvest stated Thursday. Interest in business real estate has doubled in Plzeň for example, as companies find an advantageous pool of employees among growing numbers of unemployed but qualified workers.