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City Industrial Zone

Pardubice is one of the largest cities in East Bohemia and it is its industrial centre. The first celebrated period of its more than seven hundred year history occurred under the rule of one of the most powerful Czech families, the noblemen of Pernštejn, who at the beginning of the 16thCentury built their residential town out of Pardubice. The Pernštejns’ Pardubice including its beautiful chateau, the Green Gate and a number of valuable town houses today form the historical centre of the city.
In modern day history the year of 1845 stands out as a significant milestone – the year when the railway arrived to the city. Within a short period of time Pardubice became a significant transportation node and combined with its advantageous position in the centre of Bohemia new industries were attracted to the city. In the second half of the 19th century engineering and food-processing companies began to spring up here. At the beginning of the 20th century they were joined by the chemical industry and electrical engineering industry and Pardubice experienced a dynamic growth. Up until the seventies of the last century it was one of the fastest growing cities in the former Czechoslovakia and its population grew to almost one hundred thousand. The chemical industry was represented primarily by Synthesia, which developed the world-renowned plastic explosive Semtex. Tesla was synonymous with the electrical engineering industry and developed the Tamara anti-stealth radar. Today the former site of Tesla has been acquired by the Taiwanese company of Foxconn which employs about 5000 people and is one of the largest manufacturers of computers in Europe.

Owing to its past history it does not come as a surprise that in 1995 a plan was conceived for building a new industrial zone. To this end a location was chosen in the city which already had a duty-free zone in operation and where there was no problem in acquiring land. The first phase saw the purchase of 50 hectares of land and today the industrial zone stretches over an area of 75 hectares. As soon as the land had been purchased, the City of Pardubice, in cooperation with CzechInvest, began offering at that time the largest Greenfield Zone in the Czech Republic to foreign investors.
In 1998 it began designing the infrastructure and utilities for the site. The city’s first idea was to build the infrastructure after the arrival of the first investor, in accordance with its requirements. However, that idea was short-lived. Large-scale investors who showed their interest in the industrial zone finally invested elsewhere at locations already containing a fully-functional infrastructure. For this reason the city decided in 1999 to get to work on constructing the necessary infrastructure.

Once built, the city was better able to negotiate entry to the site with new investors. The first investor to show interest was the Taiwanese company of Foxconn, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of PCs, producing for leading brand names such as Compaq, IBM, Dell, Apple, and HP. In the end it turned out quicker and more effective for them to purchase the site of the former HTT TESLA. In 2000 the company began producing the PC IMAC for IBM and the PC Compaq.
The industrial zone is located to the west of the city of Pardubice, approximately 6 km from the centre. It can be found in the village of Staré Čivice on the main road leading in the direction of Kolín and Prague and serviced by railway No. 010 Prague – Pardubice on the international high-speed Berlin - Prague - Vienna corridor.

The city of Pardubice currently owns all 71 hectares of land and the city plan counts on extending the zone in the future up to an area of 120 hectares. The site is designed primarily for light industry. Owing to the city’s industrial tradition particular support is directed towards the electrical engineering and chemical industries and the growing automotive industry.

These industries are reflected in the structure of schools offering education in Pardubice. A secondary school and higher-education college focusing on electrical engineering are both based in Pardubice. The University of Pardubice is renowned for its focus on chemistry, technology, and transportation. In 2002 it opened a new IT study program and in 2005 teaching began at the newly opened Electrical Engineering Faculty.

Investment incentives, both local and national, are important when negotiating with investors. They are generally funded by the government and the cities themselves and its no different here in Pardubice. So what are the local benefits ?
Firstly, it is a zone fully geared up for investment. Some of the greatest advantages of the Pardubice Industrial Zone lie in the fact that it can be used as a duty-free zone, its central location in the Czech Republic and Europe, and good transportation access. It lies on an international railway corridor and is in the close vicinity of a category one international airport. A connecting road is also under construction for joining Pardubice to the European motorway network. Plans are also in motion for building a port on the river Elbe. Once this is complete, Pardubice will be accessible by all modes of transportation.

Key features of the Pardubice Industrial Zone are that it lies on the edge of a regional city that is able to offer high-quality social, cultural and sports amenities. The city has a qualified workforce, particularly in the electrical engineering, chemical and food-processing industries.

The Industrial Zone in the city of Pardubice is made available to investors through the medium of the government agency for investment, CzechInvest, which has an office here in the city. In 2002 the zone in Pardubice was the only zone to be acknowledged by CzechInvest as being a fully prepared industrial zone. The following year it received an industrial zone accreditation certificate, also from the CzechInvest agency. Pardubice regularly appears in the top positions of lists drawn up annually for investors by the Prague Business Journal. Over the last few years it was assessed as the best place in the Czech Republic thanks to the efficiency and competency of the City Hall in negotiating with investors and also thanks to the business climate within the city. Another advantage offered by the city is the level of readiness of educational institutions for teaching foreign languages, even from primary school level (UNESCO certification), up to university level. Foreign institutions such as the British Centre, Alliance Francaise and the Goethe Zentrum are also located in the city. The city plan incorporates areas for the construction of homes, offices and industrial buildings.

Costs for building-up the Zone:

Of which state/EU funding:

Investment inflow in dates (as of the signature of the contract):

• 2000    Panasonic Automotive Systems Czech, s.r.o. (Japan)
• 2003    JTEKT Automotive Czech Republic, s.r.o. (Japan)
• 2004    KYB Manufacturing Czech, s.r.o. (Japan)
• 2004    Ronal CR, s.r.o. (Šwitzerland)
• 2005    TechnoPark Pardubice, k.s. (Czech Republic)