BUSINESS
Moravian-Silesian
Regional Chamber
of Commerce to Help
With Expansion
to the American Market
Czech companies are well aware that the US is among one of the largest global importers. It is
therefore no surprise that the US is Czechia’s 11th largest export partner, making it the largest
market outside Europe to which we have access to. In recent years, Czech exports to the United
States are growing exponentially and it is assumed that, thanks to the US market’s potential of
over 300 million customers, this trend will continue.
Even though this is a promising market
for Czech companies, it is not easy for
them to get their products and services
overseas and maintain their spot among
the competition. The Moravian-Silesian
Regional Chamber of Commerce (MS
RCC) aids companies in their expansion
to the US market through connections to
the international business support network
Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) and the
services of the regional export specialist.
“The Enterprise Europe Network makes
use of our long term cooperation with
EEN offices in over 60 different countries.
When dealing with individual client cases,
we can also make use of local experts in the
US. In recent years, many companies have
reached out to us looking for guidance in
dealing with customs and the legislature
and administration of setting up a branch
office in the US. Companies were also
interested in getting help with finding legal
aid and financing in the early business
stages. To resolve these issues, we mainly
dipped into our connections to local
experts and colleagues from the New
York and San Francisco EEN offices. We
also shared our contacts for potential
business partners and searched for events
that might be of interest to the companies
that work with us, which included trade
fairs, exhibitions, conferences and
bilateral negotiations,” Hana Simonová,
project manager at EEN, listed.
The Czech company UVB TECHNIK
managed to get their products to the
US market through their membership at
the Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Since 1991, UVB TECHNIK has been
concerned with the development of
measuring and technical equipment.
Their flagship products are precise metal
strip thickness continuous contact gauges.
Their gauges are on the cutting edge of
this technology and are being delivered
globally in the hundreds.
“Even though it is difficult for a small
Czech company to break through in this
market, which has been occupied by
German competition for the past couple
decades, thanks to the experience of
our business representative, frequent
attendance at the AISTech trade fair and
mainly the high quality of our devices, we
managed to convince local companies
that our products are truly the best they
can find. Presently we are supplying our
products to a customer that is incredibly
satisfied with them, to the point that they
are replacing all of their current devices
with ours,” Pavel Vitoslavský, director of
UVB TECHNIK, said.
“A couple years ago, we expanded our
exporter aid to include the services of
the regional export specialist, who makes
use of their close contacts with economic
diplomats working at individual embassies,
and other employees of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs. The process of
expanding to the US market was always
relatively difficult for Czech companies,
whether it be due to the large number
of competitors, market size, legislative
differences, business traditions or the
ferocity of the local market. The situation
has also recently worsened due to the
pandemic and current international
events. This means that creating this new
service has proven majorly beneficial,”
Natálie Šitavancová, director of the MS
RCC, concluded and added that in case
of interest, regional companies can
reach out for detailed information, aid in
the search for partners or help with export
expansion at the MS RCC email address
een@khkmsk.cz.
Text a foto: KHK MSK
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