Ostrava is an attractive destination for business services

25/11 2016

Ostrava is a modern hub for shared business services – and the third most popular destination for investors in the Czech Republic. That was the key message presented by Ostrava’s Mayor Tomáš Macura at the ‘Business Services in Ostrava’ meeting held on 23 November at the Nová Karolina Park office complex.

Ostrava is an attractive destination for business services

Macura summed up the city’s strengths: “Modern Ostrava is full of energy and determination, and it is keeping step with the latest global trends. We are a forward-looking, self-confident city – thanks to our proud industrial past, our renowned technical and technological know-how that has been passed down through several generations, our hard-working people, and our excellence as an academic centre. We understand what businesses need – and we are confident in our ability to deliver it. Thanks to these qualities, we have won the trust of many investors from the Czech Republic and other countries.”

Shared services centres (SSCs) are often used by companies that choose to outsource part of their operations to an external provider rather than maintaining in-house departments for specialist areas of activity. The most frequent operations provided by SSCs are IT services, human resources, legal services and accounting. SSCs are growing rapidly in number, with up to 20% annual growth expected in the sector. Ostrava offers excellent conditions for attracting shared services centres – a well-qualified young workforce, an excellent range of modern office facilities, and relatively low labour costs.

The largest shared services centres in Ostrava include Tieto (with 2200 employees), Okin (almost 1000), Moneta Money Bank (800), and Siemens (600).

The meeting on 23 November included a panel where participants discussed why Ostrava has become a particularly attractive destination for business and investment. Discussions also focused on the incentives offered by CzechInvest and the Association of Business Service Leaders in the Czech Republic (ABSL) to attract investors to the city, as well as new employee recruitment methods.

An information pack on the business services sector can be downloaded here.