The AFI kicked off 2022 with a Plenary Session. What new things did it bring?

On Tuesday, 11 January, a Plenary Session of the Association for Foreign Investment (AFI) was held on the premises of the Kinstellar law firm, where AFI members shared information on their individual activities, management and future plans.

As in years past, Kamil Blažek, Chairman of the Association for Foreign Investment, opened the session by welcoming the participants and then summarised the activities carried out in 2021 and the plan of activities for 2022. A unique new aspect of this year’s marketing activities is the launch of the Czech Business Guide website, which is related to the printed Business Guidebook publication. The website is an extraordinary place and a gateway to the Czech Republic where investors and the owners and management of foreign and domestic companies can find comprehensive information about the Czech Republic and its business, economic and political environment.

CzechInvest was represented at the Plenary Session by the head of the agency’s Investment and Foreign Operations Division, Veronika Kratochvílová, who presented CzechInvest’s key activities in 2021. Her deputy, Eva Jungmannová, described the outlook for cooperation between CzechInvest and the AFI in 2022.

The Plenary Session also included a presentation of the draft budget for 2022 and a report from the Supervisory Committee on the AFI’s management in 2021, which was presented by Luděk Hanáček. The key point of the session was discussion of the applications of new candidates for membership in the AFI, namely Prochazka & Partners, which represents clients in area of commercial real estate, and SONY DADC, which is part of the SONY group and provides top-quality services within the entire supply chain for the entertainment industry and beyond. Based on a vote on the acceptance of new members, Prochazka & Partners and SONY DADC were duly admitted to the AFI with effect from 12 January 2022.

Prochazka & Partners is a leading advisory firm focused exclusively on representing tenants in the area of commercial real estate. The firm’s team of professionals provides commercial and technical consulting in order to ensure that every client is able to make fully informed decisions regarding commercial real estate. Their knowledge and experience help primarily to reduce costs and make it possible to maximise the return on invested capital. The other new member, SONY DADC, develops custom solutions to fulfil the needs of its customers, which include major game, music and film producers. The company is part of a global network that includes service centres, production, distribution and digital services.

In the final segment of the Plenary Session, individual members of working groups presented their respective strategies in the areas of human resources (Gabriela Hrbáčková Kedová), energy (Martin Dittrich) and investment incentives (Jan Linhart).

At the conclusion of the Plenary Session, everyone in attendance had the opportunity to welcome the New Year with food and a glass of good wine and to discuss more than just work-related issues.