Governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region

REGION–KRNOV A Quality Investment Environment Is the Key to Success We value each and every investor that decides to do business in the Moravian-Silesian Region. We are taking a great interest in increasing the number of prospering companies in our region; we particularly need more investment in innovation and industrial research and development. This is the reason why we support new investors, though, of course, we make sure not to neglect existing business entities. It is critical to help entrepreneurs realize their dreams, because they provide jobs, and without good work prospects, it is difficult to motivate people to stay in a region stagnating its development. I consider the inception of the MoravianSilesian Innovation Center in Ostrava (MSIC) to be of great importance, as it is successfully helps the region gain not only a larger portfolio of companies that are growing quickly and exporting their products, but also funnels more investment in innovation and industrial research and development. Furthermore, it ensures a deeper connection between the business environment and the academic sphere. MSIC also assists the development of international cooperation with foreign centers, including ones in Nordic countries. An inspirational trip to Helsinki and Tampere that took place two years ago is a great example of this. It was a truly thought-provoking visit and if it were not for the pandemic, our mutual collaboration efforts would surely have seen even greater development. MSIC is greatly inspired by the innovation politics of the Nordic countries, and has big plans for partnership with the regions around the cities of Goteborg, Malmo and Aarhus. The COVID pandemic turned life upside down for everybody, and it is a fact that these conditions are not exactly favorable for the establishment of new investments and contacts. Nevertheless, we are still advertising the Moravian-Silesian Region and presenting it to investors from various fields in order to inspire talented and hardworking people to stay with us and continue to develop their potential here. The Moravian-Silesian Investment and Development (MSID) regional agency takes care of this important job. The people at MSID work hard to further increase the quality of our investment market and, among other things, to create a good ecosystem for Nordic companies in our region. To do this, they use experience from companies that are already established here. Examples of these are TietoEVRY--with over 2,000 employees, it is one of the biggest employers in the field of IT services in Czechia and the biggest in the MS Region-and Stora Enso--a bioeconomics company that develops wood- and biomass-based solutions for a variety of fields with many global applications. Even newer names, like Heimstaden, are also included in this list. Other than the opportunity to find educated employees, our region also offers companies a synergistic relationship with locally based industrial firms, as they can apply automation and digitalization solutions in their day-to-day operation. In recent months, MSID has been negotiating with Finnish companies, such as Unikie and eSystems. prof. Ing. Ivo Vondrák, CSc., governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region POSITIV 1/2021 ǀ 33