South Bohemia Region

The Region of South Bohemia used to be seen as an agricultural area with developed fish farming and forestry. Industrial development oriented towards manufacturing activities only started to appear in the Region during the 20th century.

With its 10 057 sq. km, the Region takes up 12.8 % of the entire Czech Republic. More than 7 000 ponds, the overall surface area of which today comprises over 30 000 hectares, were built within the Region’s territory in the past. A significant part of the Region’s border is formed by the state border with Austria and Germany (total length of 323 km). The Region’s border character provides opportunities for efficient cross-border cooperation in the area of manufacture, as well as in the area of services, together with the development of the tourist trade, which utilises the overall attractiveness, unspoilt nature, and many cultural monuments of the Region. The Region is an important tourist and recreational area, attracting visitors who come to see its many beauty spots, unspoilt countryside dotted with ponds (Rožmberk, Svět) and to experience the unique atmosphere of its historical towns (České Budějovice, Tábor, Jindřichův Hradec, Český Krumlov, Prachatice, Písek). Exceptional natural wonders can be seen in the Šumava National Park, where the greatest attractions are Boubín and Žofín virgin forests. Those seeking recreation will appreciate stays in the vicinity of Lipno Dam and on the banks of the Vltava River. Of the Region’s seven districts, the District of České Budějovice, which is home to almost 30 % of the Region’s inhabitants, has the highest population density. This is mostly due to the concentration of population in the city of České Budějovice itself, which has around 95 000 residents.

ECONOMIC POTENTIAL

The prevailing crops in agricultural production are cereals, oleaginous seeds, and forage crops, followed by potatoes. In livestock production, the main focus is on cattle breeding and pig rearing. Industrial production is concentrated mainly in the České Budějovice District. The principal industrial sector is the manufacturing industry, specifically the automobile industry (Faurecia Automotive Czech Republic, DURA Automotive CZ, Linde Pohony) and the food industry (VISCOFAN CZ, MADETA). The priority sectors in the Region, in accordance with the South Bohemia Regional Innovation Strategy, are the areas of biotechnology, engineering, mechatronics and electrical engineering, and the automobile and textile industries. The Region of South Bohemia is not an area rich in raw materials. Most importantly, there are almost no sources of power-producing raw materials. However, the extensive forests are an important natural treasure, especially the Bohemian Forest and forests in the Novohradské hory Mountains. The forests are mostly coniferous, spruce and pine. The greatest wealth of raw materials comprises deposits of sands and sandy gravels, brick clay, aggregate, and glass sands. Other important raw materials include peat and, in some locations, also limestone, diatomite, and graphite. There is a number of educational and scientific research institutions in the South Bohemia Region. The most important include the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, which comprises a public university-type institution. The Region has always had the character of a recreational area, rather than an industrially developed one. The efforts to preserve the natural environment are reflected in the establishment of the Šumava National Park. In agriculture, crop farming is mostly oriented towards cereals, oil crops, and fodder crops. Animal breeding is dominated by cattle and pig farming. The Region has a long tradition of fish farming. The overall surface area of ponds used for fish husbandry is approximately 25 000 ha. The ponds supply more than half of the overall fish production in the Czech Republic. The Region also has a significant share in the farming of aquatic poultry (ducks and geese). Industrial production is mainly concentrated in the vicinity of České Budějovice, with significant portions of industry also in the Districts of Tábor and Strakonice. South Bohemia is easily accessible from the northern and eastern parts of the Czech Republic and from neighbouring Austria by the E55 motorway (Prague – České Budějovice – Linz), to which local roads are linked. International railway lines pass through České Budějovice; Veselí nad Lužnicí is an important railway junction. An international airport is located at a distance of approximately 6 kilometres from České Budějovice. In mid-2015, work began on its modernisation, with the aim of transforming it into an airport offering the full range of services for charter, tourist, business, international, and national cargo transport. The airport is expected to become an international public airport soon. Linz, Upper Austria, is the nearest public international civilian airport. The exhibition grounds in České Budějovice host various kinds of exhibitions throughout the year. The international “Bread Basket” agricultural fair and the “HOBBY” exhibition are the most popular. Many types of cross-border collaborations have developed in recent years. One of these is the Šumava/Bayerischer Wald/ Mühlviertel Euroregion, which covers an area of 16 000 sq. km with 1.3 million people. The Euroregion associates 111 Upper Austrian, 107 Bavarian, and 95 Czech municipalities (of which 56 municipalities are from the South Bohemia Region). The objective of the

Český Krumlov

South Bohemian Agency for Support to Innovative Enterprising is to support innovative projects in the South Bohemia Region, i.e. the application of research results in practice and support of enterprises pursuing these activities. An important project is the administration of the information portal concerning Czech biotechnologies Gate2biotech (www. gate2biotech.cz/) and the operation of the South Bohemian Scientific and Technical Park. The South Bohemian Scientific and Technical Park, opened in 2014, offers equipped offices and laboratories, including laboratory instruments, technological halls, lecture and conference rooms, and other facilities. It also invites competitions for the best business project – in 2018, for example, the competition was won by BCF with its Virtual Lab start-up project, which assists managers with their problems in public speaking. In 2020, VIRTUAL LAB became part of the HACK THE CRISIS virtual hackathon, organised by CzechInvest Agency with the purpose to help to mitigate the impacts of Covid-19. VIRTUAL LAB came forward with its VRJIPka application, facilitating the safe training of the medical personnel in virtual reality. Already in the first round of evaluation, VIRTUAL LAB was included in the best evaluated projects category. Another interesting firm located in the park is, for example, LARX s.r.o, concerned with the development of the environment with smart household software controlling different household elements by mobile phone. In direct cooperation with the Austrian firm, which owns a licence for the LOXONE operating system for the control of smart households and is the manufacturer and sole owner of the entire system of LOXONE household automation technology, it is developing an upgrade for the user interface of this system (smart household control by telephone, tablet, etc.). Fiedler AMS, s.r.o., in turn, specialises in the manufacture and development of electrical equipment for applications in water management and environmental protection. The firm cooperates in the research and development of new systems with scientific workplaces. The monitoring and measuring systems developed by Fiedler AMS, s.r.o. are widely used in the Czech Republic within the sector and, owing to their modular character, they have a good chance to succeed also in other branches. Temelín is a community in South Bohemia where the Czech Republic´s largest electricity supplier, Temelín Nuclear Power Station, covering one-fifth of domestic electricity consumption, is located. The Temelín nuclear power station has the third most successful year in energy production behind it. In 2020 it generated 15.75 terawatthours more than Dukovany, the second power station of the same type in the Czech Republic. Last year, the South Bohemia power station mastered an extremely demanding installation of new separators in its second production block, whereby the plant´s output increased. Taken together, in 2020 the Dukovany and Temelín power stations generated more than one-third of the total electricity output in the Czech Republic. If the same

South Bohemian pond

amount of electricity were to be generated by burning coal, it would mean releasing more than 22 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the air. The Region has several industrial parks (locations at http://invest. kraj-jihocesky.cz) and cluster initiatives. One of the largest and most attractive industrial parks in the Region is Písek-Čížovská Industrial Park. With its surface area of 50 ha, this is the second-largest park in the Region and one with the best links to the motorway system. The largest park, with a surface area of nearly 62 ha, is Domoradice-Český Krumlov Industrial Park. Smaller industrial parks in the Region can be found in other towns – České Budějovice, Milevsko, Protivín, Soběslav, Strakonice, Třeboň, Jindřichův Hradec, and Nové Hrady.

THE REGION AND THE EU

The South Bohemia Region is pursuing intensive cross-border cooperation. Its closest ties in this respect are with the Federal Republic of Germany, the Lower Bavaria Government Region and two federal states of the Republic of Austria – Upper and Lower Austria. Other partners of the South Bohemia Region in foreign countries are the Swiss Canton Bern, the Košice Self Government Region in Slovakia and Loire Land, France. Between 2014 and 2018 the South Bohemia Region drew more than 20 billion Czech crowns from European funds. A great part of this money went into the construction of the railway corridor on the České Budějovice – Prague railway line between Sudoměřice and Tábor and the D3 Tábor – Veselí nad Lužnicí motorway. EU funds were used to realise a number of other projects in the Region, for example the Lower Austria – South Bohemia Cross-border Mutual Healthcare Provision Project. Cross-border projects make it possible to overcome borders and provide medical services in the particular region disregarding the state border. The goal of the project is to enable people living in the border regions, in this case the České Velenice – Gmünd area, to make optimum use of medical services on both sides of the state border. EU funds have also been used for the reconstruction of several castles and chateaus. For example in Český Krumlov large sums of money have been invested in the revitalisation of monasteries, specifically the unique 14th century monastery complex situated in the centre of the historical core of the city, and the construction of a cultural and educational centre offering new, modern cultural and educational services making the historical core even more attractive for both the city inhabitants and visitors, as well as investors.

USEFUL CONTACTS: South Bohemian Regional Authority – www.kraj-jihocesky.cz South Bohemian Chamber of Commerce – www.jhk.cz South Bohemian Agency for the Support of Innovation Businesses – www.jaip.cz University of South Bohemia – www.jcu.cz City Authority of České Budějovice – www.c-budejovice.cz