The future of the Czech economy: investments, decarbonization and global influences
September 10, 2024
2:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Congress Centre of the Czech National Bank
The Annual Conference of the AFI is one of the key events aimed at supporting the investment environment in the Czech Republic. This year, the event's fourth edition took place on September 10, 2024, at the Czech National Bank in Prague.
The conference part of the event comprised of three moderated panel discussions in which experts spoke about current trends and the latest issues in the economic and investment environment. The expert part of the programme included the presentation of the results of the Business Environment Survey 2024 and the AFI Awards ceremony.
More information about this year's conference can be found in the Events section and a complete photo gallery is also available.
News in the Czech investment environment
Demand for labor and changes in the labor market
Reinvestment in the Czech Republic
Industrial self-sufficiency
Green Deal and carbon neutrality
Sustainable financing (taxonomy, ESG, etc.)
Perception of risks and their solutions
Trends 24&25
13:15 - 14:00 Registration |
14:00 - 14:10 Opening |
14:10 - 15:10 1st panel - Economic outlook of the Czech Republic: deglobalization and investment |
15:10 - 15:20 Presentation of the results of AFI survey |
15:20 - 15:45 Coffee break a networking |
15:45 - 16:45 2nd panel – Current views of investors on the investment environment in the Czech Republic |
16:45 - 17:15 Award ceremony |
17:15 - 18:15 3rd panel – Decarbonization of the Czech Republic and economic impacts |
18:15 - 20:00 Raut & Networking |
Chairman of the National Budget Council
advisor to the President of the Czech Republic, member of NERV
Economist, former Czech representative to the World Bank
Chief Economist, Česká spořitelna
Education: University of Economics Prague, Harvard University-Kennedy School of Government.
For sixteen years she worked for the World Bank in positions ranging from consultant to senior advisor to the Executive Director or member of the President's Advisory Group on International Financial Architecture and G7/G8/G20 negotiations. Later she was the Deputy Sherpa of the European Council at the G20 negotiations, and in the Czech public sector she worked, among others, as Deputy Minister of Education or Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister.
In the 1990s, she was involved in the launch of the first internationally accredited MBA program in Czechoslovakia (CMC-Graduate School of Business), taught there and subsequently served as Director of Research, International Programs and PR.
She occasionally lectured at international universities, including Harvard University. She has received several domestic and international awards for her research work and has held fellowships at Oxford University and the World Bank.
Site Manager and VP of Manufacturing, Onsemi
Chief Commercial Officer, Enterprise Market CZ T-mobile
CEO CzechInvest
Managing Director in Panattoni Development Czech republic & Slovakia
Aleš joined the company in 1993 after he had finished his master’s degree in electro technology at Brno University of Technology. He started as a process engineer at diffusion in Rožnov fab and took one year training at Motorola Toulouse. His experience and analytical skills took him into manufacturing where he built fab capacity model and started planning and participated in fab expansion. Later, he became wafer fab Manufacturing Manager and then Operations Manager. Under his leadership fab successfully transferred many technologies and significantly expanded capacity. His 15 years fab experience, ability to lead multifunctional teams and orientation to results qualified him in 2008 to his current role of Rožnov site manager with responsibility of two fabs CZ2 and CZ4 and supporting departments in Rožnov. Rožnov site is now undergoing significant expansion and transformation to silicon carbide technology which would not be possible without Aleš’ dedication and visions.
Luboš Lukasík is a leading figure in the field of telecommunications and digitalization, whose vision and experience contribute significantly to the modernization of Czech industry and public administration. He has been a key member of T-Mobile since 2020, where he has held the position of Head of the Corporate and Public Administration Division since 2021 and is also a member of the Board of Directors.
His career is rich with achievements in innovation and digitalization.
He started his professional career with CzechInvest, where he participated in the implementation of the Operational Programme of the Ministry of Industry and Trade aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises. He then spent nine years at O2 Czech Republic in management positions, where he focused on improving sales activities and customer care.
Prior to joining T-Mobile, he ran his own consulting firm that helped telecom and banking clients set up B2B strategies, product portfolios and sales and customer care models. He also served as Head of B2B at Telenor Group, where he created new business-to-business strategies with an emphasis on digital transformation.
Luboš Lukasík graduated from Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering, and holds an MBA from DePaul University in Chicago and a Masters of Corporate Law from Nottingham Trent University.
His main vision is to take digitalisation in the Czech Republic to a new level. He believes that "Those who don't digitize, it's as if they don't exist, or certainly won't in the future." According to him, digitalization and big data offer a wealth of opportunities for optimizing transport systems, reducing traffic congestion and improving air quality in cities. The shift to digital platforms also means better access to information for citizens and more efficient governance of cities and regions.
As an ambassador of the Second Economic Transformation, he is focused on keeping the Czech Republic at the forefront of the adoption of modern technologies.
Jan Michal is a graduate of the Faculty of Business Administration at the University of Economics and also holds a master’s degree in international relations from the Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences in Prague. He came to CzechInvest from the European Commission, where he served in the Secretariat-General and later as a deputy section director in the Directorate-General for Communication, where he headed the Political and Economic Intelligence Department. During the Czech presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2022, he served as Deputy Sherpa in the Office of the Government, where he focused on preparing meetings of the European Council and on energy policy. From 2010 to 2016, he headed the EC Representation in Czechia. During his mission, he took part in, among other things, Czechia’s involvement in the InvestEU programme and cooperation with the European Investment Bank. In 2016, the president of the Chamber of Commerce awarded him the Gold Merkur medal for his active support of the business environment in Czechia. Prior to that, he worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as at NATO headquarters in Brussels and the United Nations in New York.
He started his professional career at Cushman & Wakefield, where he spent a total of ten years. Since 2008, he has headed Panattoni as Managing Director for the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Panattoni is part of Panattoni Development Company, one of the world's largest privately owned real estate development companies with 48 offices in North America and Europe. Since its launch in Central Europe in 2005, the company has completed a total of more than 13.9 million sqm of modern industrial space.
Pavel Sovička has 23 years of industrial experience in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. He has been involved in transactions representing a total of more than 1,500,000 m2 of leased and sold space. Some of the most significant projects under his leadership include Panattoni Park Prague Airport I and II, Amazon's distribution centre in Dobrovíz (the largest rental building in the Czech Republic, 120,000 sqm), Panattoni Park D5 / Stříbro and Panattoni Park Cheb, whose most significant tenant is Tchibo (the second largest rental building in the Czech Republic, 105,000 sqm).
Senior Director of Energy and Nuclear Resources, Ministry of Industry and Trade
Member of the Board of Directors of Pražská plynárenská, Chairman of the Council of the Czech Gas Association
Director for Strategy and Regulatory Affairs at Veolia Energie CR
Chairman of the Board of Directors, CEO at Elektrárna Dukovany II
Mr. René Neděla graduated at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Control and Instrumentation of the Czech Technical University. He also graduated at the Masaryk Institute of Advanced Studies in the field of Business and Industrial Engineering in Industry. He also graduated from the Florence School of Regulation - Annual Training Course on the Regulation of Energy Utilities (Certificate of Attendance). Since 2011, he worked in the Energy Regulatory Office in several positions, starting from the Energy Regulatory Specialist, Head of Strategy and Advisory Department and Heat Department Director up to the Director of the Regulatory Section. At the same time, he lectured technical subjects at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the CTU and, later on, at the Technical University of Prague. He has been active in various governmental and non-governmental working groups on energy and water.
Martin Slabý is a member of the Board of Directors and Director of Strategy and Procurement at Pražská plynárenská, a.s., the leading energy company in the Czech Republic. He has held senior management positions at NET4GAS and GDF Suez -Tractebel (now ENGIE).
Since December 2018, he has been the Chairman of the Council of the Czech Gas Association, which brings together over 200 professional associations and companies operating in the Czech gas industry. The main mission of the Union is to advocate and promote the use of gas, to represent the Czech gas industry at domestic and international level and to develop professional and associative activities for the benefit of the gas industry.
He is a founding member of the AFI; he was its chairman in 2006-2008. For a number of years he represented the Czech Republic in the coordinating committee of the world gas association, the International Gas Union.
Miroslav Zajíček obtained his Ph.D. in Law from the Faculty of Law, Charles University (2012), a Master's degree in Law from the same faculty (2005), a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Chicago (2000), and an Ing. (equivalent to M.Sc.) degree in Economics from the University of Economics, Prague (1998).
Previously, he was a member of the Advisory Committee of the Chairman of the Energy Regulatory Office (2010-2015), he held positions as the Head of the Department of Institutional, Experimental and Environmental Economics (2012-2017), and as the Head of Strategy at Veolia Energie ČR (2017-2020).
He currently serves as the Director for Strategy and Regulation at Veolia Energie ČR, a.s. (since 2020).
Ing. Petr Závodský (1970) joined the CEZ Group in 1994 at the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant during the construction of Units 1&2, where he worked as a manager of independent verification and validation of safety systems software.
In the fall of 2006, when CEZ decided to prepare a new nuclear reactor, he was one of the first members of the new team, where he was responsible for the technical part of the preparation. In April 2009, he became the director of the nuclear power plant construction department responsible for nuclear construction within the CEZ Group, i.e. the new nuclear power plants in Dukovany and Temelín and in Jaslovské Bohunice.
He is currently the chairman of the board of directors of ČEZ subsidiaries – Elektrárna Dukovany II, a. s. and Elektrárna Temelín II a. s. and the general director of these companies.
The purpose of the Prizes is to recognise and publicly acknowledge important persons who have contributed to the development of the Czech investment environment and economy, and also activities and projects implemented in the Czech Republic (e.g. investments in advanced technologies) and activities, and projects originating in the Czech Republic and implemented abroad that are beneficial for the Czech Republic. The Innovation Idea of the Year award is aimed at activities or projects that are significant for a high level of innovation in any form (innovative approach/procedure/know-how/technology, etc.) carried out in the Czech Republic and activities or projects originating in the Czech Republic, carried out abroad, which benefit the Czech Republic.
Do not hesitate to contact us in case of any further questions.
Kateřina Moravcová
Event Manager
+420 732 135 284
katerina.moravcova@afi.cz