INVESTORS IN MSK

Plánují se v blízké době nějaké konkrétní

investice v Moravskoslezském kraji?

Překvapuje mě, že nejsme v tabulce výš kamkoliv přijdu, najdu investice. Vidíme,

že britské společnosti mají o váš region

značný zájem díky jeho jedinečným přírodním podmínkám a dostupnosti pracovní síly – na což CzechInvest skvěle

upozorňuje i ve Velké Británii.

Ve vašem regionu již působí více britských investorů, například Liberty Steel,

jeden z největších zdejších zaměstna-

vatelů, nebo distributoři britských značek, jako je Best of British Cars, dealerství Jaguar Land Rover.

Dva potenciálně velmi zajímavé projekty podporované britským velvyslanectvím v současné době představuje britský technologický start-up Gravitricity,

který jedná o možné instalaci podzemního úložiště energie ve slezském dole.

A britská společnost Rolls-Royce SMR,

která se zabývá zaváděním malých modulárních reaktorů a má zájem o umís-

tění svých reaktorů v České republice.

Tato společnost plánuje zahájit jednání

s Moravskoslezským krajem o možné

spolupráci.

Vaše excelence, děkujeme Vám za rozhovor.

Text: redakce

Foto: archiv Jeho excelence

Nicholase Stewarta Archera

We Help

Open Doors to Businesses

Nicholas Stewart Archer has been the British Ambassador to the Czech Republic since 2018.

He previously served as a diplomat in Jordan and Norway, as Ambassador to Denmark and High

Commissioner to Malta. From 1997 to 2000 he was Assistant Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales.

Mr. Ambassador, will you share with

us the key priorities that you intend

to address in the coming year?

My time in the Czech Republic is coming

to an end, and so a lot of this will be up

to my successor. Of course, my priorities

are my country’s priorities. Support

for Ukraine will stay a top priority in

the coming year; happily we are in full

agreement with our Czech partners

so our two governments will continue

working together to offer support, both

as long as the fighting continues and for

reconstruction when it ends.

In the area of business, our plan is to

keep working with Czech stakeholders

on some strategic deals mainly in

the areas of energy, defence and

infrastructure. And to give companies at

both ends the help they need as they get

used to the still-new post-Brexit trading

environment.

During your visit to Ostrava, you

mentioned your interest in developing

cooperation at the level of smaller

companies, in the fields of science and

innovation, and also in education. Were

these goals met?

I am pleased to say they have. One of

the most important tasks of my embassy

is to help open the door for businesses.

And we have successfully managed

that for a number of SMEs, especially in

consumer and retail markets. Just a few

weeks ago we held a retail trade mission

at the Embassy where almost thirty

new British food, drink and cosmetics

brands presented themselves to local

distributors and we will shortly be able to

see some of them here in Czech shops,

which is great. This confirms that to he

Czech market continues to be attractive

for British businesses, and I am glad my

embassy can help to make this possible.

On education specifically, the Embassy

I’m surprised that

“

we are not higher up on

the table, wherever I go I find

investments.

”

cooperates with local foundations

supporting Czech students attending

the most prestigious British universities.

We have also begun a discussion with

Czech banks on how the current loan

system parameters could be adapted to

allow Czech students to take up loans

for tuition fees which is something that is

very common in the UK.

any specific investments planned in

the Moravian-Silesian region in the near

future?

I’m surprised that we are not higher up on

the table – wherever I go I find investments.

We see a significant interest from British

companies in your region due to its

unique natural conditions and workforce

availability – which CzechInvest is great at

highlighting back in the UK.

In your region, there are already multiple

British investors, such as Liberty Steel,

one of the largest employers here, or

British brands’ distributors such as Best

of British Cars, the Jaguar – Land Rover

dealership.

Two potential and very interesting

projects supported by the British Embassy

currently are the British technology start

up Gravitricity. They are negotiating

the possible installation of a belowground energy storage in a Silesian mine.

The British company Rolls Royce SMR is

engaged in deployment of small modular

reactors and keen to deploy its reactors

in the Czech Republic. It plans to initiate

negotiations with the Moravian-Silesian

region about potential cooperation.

Your Excellency, thank you for the interview.

Great Britain is the eleventh largest

source of foreign direct investment

for the Czech Republic. Are there

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