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Plzeň Region
The Plzeň Region is the Czech Republic’s third largest in terms of surface area. Since its inception Plzeň (Pilsen), a city founded in 1295 by order of King Wenceslas II of Bohemia at the confluence of the rivers Radbuza, Mže, Úhlava, and Úslava, has been the natural centre of the Region. The industrial and technological development of the city began in the middle of the 19th century, and step by step it became one of the most important cities in the country. At present, Plzeň is the fourth largest city in the Czech Republic. It has about 172 000 inhabitants, more than 30 % of the population of the Plzeň Region. Besides Plzeň, the role of district centres is played by the towns of Klatovy, Domažlice, Tachov, and Rokycany. Given the low population density, also smaller towns, such as Sušice, Stříbro, Plasy, Kralovice, Horšovský Týn, Přeštice, and Nepomuk play an important role.
The Region is one of the economically most developed territories in the Czech Republic, combining industry and agriculture, with vast belts of forests stretching across the border mountains. Forests cover 40.4 % of the Region´s total surface area. From this point of view the territory of the Region can be divided into two parts: the Plzeň industrial agglomeration and areas formed by the Šumava and Bohemian Forest Mountains, which are attractive especially for tourists. Farmland accounts for 49.3 % of the total surface area of the Region, 66.9 % of which is arable land. As a part of Western Bohemia, the Plzeň Region has the 5th highest GDP per capita in the country. It is the third largest region in the Czech Republic, and the ninth most populous, accounting for 5.4 % of the country’s total population. A great amount of the area’s highly skilled workforce comes from this region, especially thanks to the University of West Bohemia in Plzeň, which provides 11 000 students/ year with a wide variety of in-depth study possibilities, primarily in the machine-building and electrical engineering sphere.
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ECONOMIC POTENTIAL
One of the traditional industries of the Plzeň Region is engineering, building on the history of the ŠKODA Company, today represented by the companies ŠKODA
Plzeň
TRANSPORTATION, ŠKODA MACHINE TOOL, and GTW BEARINGS. Another important sector is the food industry with its rich brewing tradition and with Pilsner Urquell at the forefront. The Region´s other traditional sectors are power engineering, with the firms Doosan Škoda Power, BRUSH SEM, and ŠKODA JS. Another industry with a long tradition in the Region is the building materials and ceramics industry, represented by LASSELSBERGER in Chlumčany. The Region´s strategic position is mainly responsible for the development of the automobile sector on its territory, with the companies VIZA AUTO CZ, Shape Corp. Czech Republic, MBtech Bohemia, JTEKT Automotive Czech Plzeň, International Components Group, Faurecia Plzeň, IDEAL AUTOMOTIVE Bor, Eissmann Automotive Česká republika, KDK Automotive Czech, and GRAMMER CZ. Other important industries in the Region are electrical engineering, represented by the firms ŠKODA ELECTRIC, Daikin Industries Czech Republic, and Panasonic AVC Networks Czech, and the aviation and space industries with the companies ZODIAC GALLEYS EUROPE, Aerotech Czech, recision Castparts CZ and Workpress Aviation. The Plzeň Region, together with the South Bohemia Region, form a territorial unit, NUTS II Southwest. The Region is the seat of more than one hundred scientific, research and development groups created by the Region´s university faculties, institutes and scientific workplaces. They include, for example, the Regional Technological Institute (RTI), the NTIS Research Centre – New Technologies for the Information Society, the Regional Innovation Centre for Electrical Engineering (RICE), New Technologies – NTC Research Centre, and the Biomedical Centre. In addition, a number of private institutions with a long tradition and transnational ties, such as COMTES FHT and the Plzeň Research and Testing Institute, concern themselves with top research and development. For several years, the City of Plzeň has been working on the improvement of the life of its inhabitants using smart technologies. Under the Smart City Plzeň programme, the city has launched or has prepared dozens of projects in the areas of environmental protection, transport, information technologies, education and safety and has become one of the pioneers of the Smart City initiative in the Czech Republic. Demand for industrial and logistic real property in the Plzeň Region is at about the same high level as in Prague and its environs. The Plzeň Region has long been a much sought after locality, attracting especially German companies. Thanks to its good quality transport infrastructure and a sufficient supply of skilled labour, the Region has become an industrial base especially for German car factories. A large part of the demand for industrial and logistic real estate comes from e-commerce firms, besides the automotive industry. E-shop operators find West Bohemia advantageous, mainly for its suitable geographical position at the crossroads of European distribution channels. Investors wishing to start or enlarge production prefer to locate their businesses in industrial parks along the
Plasy Monastery
D5 motorway, where they find sufficient vacant surfaces. These surfaces are mainly used for the location of warehouses, manufacturing enterprises, development centres and logistic service facilities. Industrial parks play a key role in programmes to attract foreign investors to Plzeň and the Plzeň Region. The Plzeň Borská pole city industrial park covering an area of 105 ha is located in the south-western part of the city near the premises of the University of West Bohemia in Plzeň and the ŠKODA industrial park. Another industrial park is CTPark Plzeň, covering an area of 30 ha. It is situated west of Plzeň Borská Pole Park and is easily accessible from the D5 motorway and by individual passenger and public transport from the city centre. A number of major international companies have located various types of business operations in the area. The park is ideal for companies locating high-tech, R&D and product development centres in the Region. CTPark is a leading project in the Region, oriented towards hi-tech companies. It locates modern logistic centres and rental halls for light industry production, services and trading. There are also warehousing companies and domestic and international freight haulage and distribution firms. One of CEE’s most successful business parks, CTPark Bor is strategically located in Western Bohemia, 50 km from Plzeň’s city centre, with excellent highway connectivity and only 15 km from the German border. The routes and important trade paths lead through not only Germany, but even further, to Italy. It is an ideal location for manufacturers in the auto supply chain and for logistics providers in e-commerce serving the Czech and/or German markets. A great advantage of the Plzeň Region is the ample supply of skilled labour. The Region offers a wide range of secondary institutions in the branches of electrical, mechanical, and civil engineering, as well as in transport. Another source of skilled workforce is the University of West Bohemia in Plzeň (UWB – ZČU in Czech). The University seeks collaboration with the business sector and targets the specialisations of its branches of study so as to meet the demands of the labour market. UWB has
Blovice Chateau
nine faculties (e.g. Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Economics, Applied Sciences). In 2016, the University opened a new institution, the Regional Innovation Centre for Electrical Engineering (RICE). The University has hundreds of projects to its credit, which have greatly contributed to the development of new technologies or their innovation. Another specialisation in which it has achieved good results is social sciences. Another interesting project of the University is the development of the CIIRC RP 95 respirator. Its production has increased from the initial several hundred to up to the current 10 000 pieces a day. The respirators are intended to protect especially the medical staff from the new Coronavirus infection. Standing at the head of the project are scientists of the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics (CIIRC) of the Czech Technical University (CVU) and experts of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of West Bohemia in Plzeň. The aim of the CIIRC scientists was to develop a respirator that can be made and immediately used anywhere in the world. The intention was to use 3D print in its production with injection of the plastic into moulds enabling largescale production. According to experts, the respirator has higher protection ability than the FFP3 respirator. Great merit for the development of the key components of the respirator is due to a group of experts of the Electrical Engineering Faculty of the University of West Bohemia and their knowhow in the manufacture of the polymer parts of the respirator. They participated in the development of the silicone exhalation valve and the silicone sealing material of the respirator.
THE REGION AND THE EU
Between 2014 and 2020 the Plzeň Region obtained around CZK 30 billion from EU funds. The money went mainly into transport and other infrastructure projects. In their realisation the Plzeň Region uses the Integrated Territorial Investment (ITI) financial instrument. It is an instrument serving territorial development, which makes it possible to solve key problems in the regions in a more comprehensive way. Thanks to ITI the regions can open new bus terminals facilitating passengers changing from trains to buses. In connection with European funds the Region also concerns itself with the future of the Czech-Bavarian programme. Under this joint programme financed from EU funds, the Czech Republic and Bavaria support minor projects of regional importance. Some 120 projects have already obtained support and hundreds of smaller ones have been realised in the area of research, development, innovation, the environment and tourism.
USEFUL CONTACTS: Plzeň Region Portal – Regional Office – www.kr-plzensky.cz Municipality of the City of Plzeň – www.plzen.eu BIC Plzeň – Business and Innovation Centre – www.bic.cz Chamber of Commerce of the Plzeň Region – www.hkplzen.cz Regional Development Agency of the Plzeň Region – www.rra-pk.cz
The Plzeň Region is an area with traditionally strong industrial players, innovative firms, important university institutions and new research centres. Its fifth position in the Czech Republic in per capita GDP ranking places it among leading regions in economic performance; it also ranks high in the area of education. The proportion of university trained employees is increasing and in the area of research, development and innovation the number of research workers is growing, with more than 60 % of them working in the company sector. Worth mentioning is also the high proportion of export-oriented firms in the manufacturing industry and the high-tech sectors, and the low unemployment rate in comparison with other regions. A great advantage is its geographical proximity to Bavaria, one of the most advanced European regions. This opens up possibilities of cross-border cooperation in research, development and innovation, including cooperation with Bavarian clusters and professional chambers.
PLZEŇ REGION IN FIGURES
Surface area: 7 649 sq km Population: 589 900 (at 1 Jan. 2020) Population in productive age: 378 500 (at 1 Jan. 2020) Unemployment rate: 3.4 % (at 31 Dec. 2020)
THE PLZEŇ REGION’S SPECIALISATION DOMAINS
New materials Intelligent Production Systems Smart Mobility Biomedicine and Technical Equipment in Healthcare
REGIONAL INNOVATION STRATEGY
The Plzeň Region wants to take the best advantage of its innovation potential. This is the aim of the Regional Innovation Strategy for Intelligent Specialisation. The Strategy comprises four domains, in which the Region has good prospects to excel.
THE REGION’S INDUSTRIAL PAST
The Plzeň Region has a more than 150-year long industrial history. The people living in the Plzeň Region are proud of the local traditional firms, which turn out highly specialised products, such as locomotives, tramcars, troleybusses, turbines and other power generating equipment.
TECHNOLOGICAL SOPHISTICATION
Advanced innovative companies using and themselves devising modern technologies are also faring well in the Plzeň Region, besides traditional firms with a history of production. How did this happen? The Region´s industrial traditionand technical experience are at the base of the people´s creatuve potential. The people simply have the innovative potential in their blood.
ENVIRONMENT FOR INNOVATION
The Plzeň Region provides a good environment for research, development and innovation. Support organisations provide expert services and motivate prospective founders to start new, innovative firms, while helping existing ones to grow. The Region also supports the construction of innovative infrastructure.
THE UNIVERSITY CITY OF PLZEŇ
The regional city of Plzeň offers quality higherlearning education at its University of West Bohemia and the Medical Faculty in Plzeň of Prague´s Charles University. Both the city and the Region provide ample opportunities for cultural, sporting, free time and other activities.
TOP RESEARCH
The Plzeň Region prides itself of excellently equipped research centres focusing on material research, IT, electronics, engineering and biomedicine. A unique institution in this respect is the Biomedical Centre of the Medical Faculty in Plzeň coming under Prague´s Charles University, which cooperates closely with the Plzeň Teaching Hospital. The University of West Bohemia has its own research centres, which carry out acedemic research and which also cooperate with the private sector. Research work is also cariied out by the private sector, with fewer, but well financed firms.
More information about the Plzeň Region as an innovation area can be found at www.inovujtevpk.cz, Get Smart profile and LinkedIn profile Smart Pilsen Region.
