Although disappointed at PSA’s decision on Wednesday to site a new assembly plant in Trnava, Slovakia, CzechInvest officials still see benefits for the Czech Republic.
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“PSA’s decision is, of course, very disappointing for us, nonetheless it is understandable in terms of investment diversification: this investor is already building one car factory in our country and so their next major investment is focusing on another area,” commented CzechInvest CEO Martin Jahn.
He added: “We did our utmost to win this investment and, although it is ultimately going to Slovakia, it will have a considerable benefit for the Czech Republic in terms of lasting economic relations. Companies operating in the Czech Republic will especially profit because Peugeot is already creating their supplier base here now.”
Since September of last year CzechInvest had been negotiating intensively with the Peugeot Citroën Automobiles concern in Prague and in Paris to build an automotive plant and prepared an offer of four industrial zones for them. The site chosen as best for the automaker’s project was the former military airport in Žatec, whose position makes it a very suitable site for locating a strategic investment.
The Ústí region in cooperation with CzechInvest managed to secure financing and start preparations of the Žatec zone in record time.
The fact that the “Triangle” industrial zone remained in such a large investor’s search until the last minute testifies to this site’s great appeal. However, the management of PSA when making their decision also took into account other aspects relating to the concern’s strategy, which the Czech Republic cannot influence.
“It is necessary to further continue preparing the Triangle industrial zone in Žatec so that this region gains its major investor soon. Just as in the case of the industrial zone in Kolín-Ovčáry, where instead of BMW we succeeded in the end in winning the investment of TPCA, Žatec will not likely remain without an investor for long. Negotiations are already underway with several potential interested parties, and not only from the automotive sector,” added Jahn.
