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