Government approves financing model for strategic business park development via the State Investment and Development Company

Prague, June 5, 2025 – The government is paving the way for strategic investments. It has approved a financing model for the development of strategic business parks through the State Investment and Development Company (SIRS), which aims to ensure more efficient and flexible land preparation for strategic investments by both domestic and foreign investors. This will enable faster development and transformation of structurally affected regions struggling with population decline. Every crown invested in this manner is estimated to generate up to 8.7 crowns for public finances. The financing will be multi-level and will allow for the involvement of private capital, thereby reducing the burden on the state budget.

At yesterday’s meeting, the Government of the Czech Republic approved the financing mechanism for the activities of the State Investment and Development Company (SIRS), as proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s cabinet has thus given the state developer the green light to prepare land in structurally affected regions for the establishment of strategic business parks focused on the production of modern, high added value technologies, in line with the state’s economic strategy approved last year.

“Speed is key to attracting large strategic foreign investments. Investors typically want to start production within two years of their decision, which, until now, has been an almost insurmountable task due to lengthy approval processes and a lack of large, consolidated, and infrastructurally equipped sites. With this step, we have now created a transparent financing framework that will allow us to prepare strategic locations more efficiently and respond more flexibly to investor needs and market conditions,” says Lukáš Vlček, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic.

The financing model of the State Investment and Development Company will be multi-level. It will be implemented through a long-term framework agreement between the company and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, covering project preparation, land consolidation, and legal clearance for prepared sites, and through implementation contracts for the physical preparation of individual sites, including building the necessary infrastructure. These can be concluded independently based on current budget possibilities, as well as demand and market developments in preferred individual sectors. Furthermore, this format, in addition to utilizing state funds, opens up the possibility of involving private capital in the preparation, thereby reducing the immediate budgetary burden on the state – for example, through the National Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, or commercial banks.

New Impulse for Regions

State investment in land preparation aimed at attracting investors in new, progressive fields, who will create new jobs requiring skilled employees, is an important tool for the renewal of structurally affected regions. These primarily include the Ústí and Labem Region, Karlovy Vary Region, and Moravian-Silesian Region, which have long struggled with the outflow of young and qualified people due to a lack of quality job opportunities and weaker regional economies.

Impact studies and modeling show that strategic investments bring significant revitalization to their catchment areas. Every 100 hectares of land prepared for an investor’s arrival means the creation of up to 8,300 jobs in the main and upstream supply chains, positive pressure on wage growth, increased productivity, and an improved standard of living and consumption in the local economy.

“The state developer model is a common and well proven tool abroad for maximizing a country’s competitiveness in attracting significant foreign investment and, concurrently, addressing specific local challenges such as the transformation of regions in need. Our role is not to compete with private developers, but rather to prepare the ground for investments that, due to their scale, would otherwise not materialize and which are currently being lost to neighboring countries, to sites prepared by their state developers. Private developers can then follow up on these strategic investments with their own projects, as experience abroad shows,” explains Zbyněk Pokorný, CEO of the State Investment and Development Company.

The preparation of strategic locations is also an effective tool for supporting economic growth and the stability of public finances. Every 1 CZK invested in the preparation of these areas can, if correctly targeted, bring 6.4 to 8.7 CZK to public finances. The net benefit for the state budget, excluding municipal and regional revenues, reaches 4.3 to 5.7 CZK for every CZK spent. At the same time, there is a significant appreciation of land owned by municipalities and the state, regardless of the future placement of a strategic investment. The mere preparation of the land leads to a several-fold increase in the market price of the land.

State Developer

The task of the State Investment and Development Company, established in January of last year, is to identify, prepare, and develop strategic locations for significant foreign and domestic investments with high added value. These primarily include projects focusing on end-production in electromobility, semiconductor and chip manufacturing, or other technologies that will contribute to the modernization of the Czech economy and the sustainable development of regions, and are in line with the state’s economic strategy. In such locations, an investor can begin construction immediately, which dramatically increases the chances of securing the investment. SIRS also helps affected municipalities develop civic amenities and related investments in the associated catchment area.

According to the framework agreement, for the amount of 3.6 billion CZK, a total of three sites with consolidated land and all permits will be prepared for the construction of strategic investments over the next six years. Another six sites will reach the pre-project preparation phase. The sites currently under preparation include the Dolní Lutyně Strategic Business Park and the Lazy Strategic Business Park in the Moravian-Silesian Region, and the Cheb Strategic Business Park in the Karlovy Vary Region. Other areas in the Ústí nad Labem Region are also being addressed.