Section Archive Marketplace
Despite depressed economy, international franchisers expand on Czech market
The Czech franchise market registered massive growth last year, with more
international brands looking to expand in the region in the coming months.
At a time of recession and falling household spending, both domestic and
international franchisers say there are good opportunities in the Czech
Republic in terms of labour and real estate costs. More
Planned university reform seeks to improve cooperation with industry
Czech universities are set for the biggest change in years. After several
failed attempts in the past, the Education Ministry is finalizing reform
legislation that should help universities adapt to the changing
environment; the reform seeks, among other things, to diversify the
universities and change their financing. It should also improve cooperation
between universities and industry. But how does the business sector see the
ministry’s efforts? In this edition of Marketplace, I discuss these
issues with Jan Louda, a university relations coordinator at IBM for Czech
Republic. More
Number of Prague cyclists doubles – despite City Hall’s approach, say activists
A recent study for Prague City Hall found that the number of people who
regularly get around the city on bikes has doubled over the past two years,
reaching 120,000, or around 10 percent of the city’s population. But
biking advocates say this was achieved in spite, rather than due to, the
authorities’ approach to cycling in the city. More
New documentary Crooks reveals abuse and manipulation of elderly people during product demonstration trips
A new documentary called Šmejdi, or Crooks, focuses on the phenomenon of
so-called product demonstration excursions. On these trips, especially
elderly people are often abused and manipulated into buying overpriced
products. The film, which premiered in Prague on Tuesday, has already
sparked a debate among lawmakers about tightening the rules and increasing
the penalties for such practices. The film’s producer, Hana
Třeštíková, describes what goes on these trips. More
Czech-Polish food row heats up
The drawn-out Czech-Polish dispute over the quality of food imports this
week reached a new level after Polish officials accused the Czech
authorities and media of waging a campaign aimed at hurting Polish food
sales in the country. Czech officials, meanwhile, complain about poor
quality of some Polish foodstuffs, and say inspections prove they fail to
meet set standards much more often that Czech products. More
Czech spas on the ropes
Czech spas are crying foul as cuts to public insurance payments threaten to
put them out of business. The Health Ministry has reduced both the number
of conditions eligible for treatment and the number of days patients can
stay at a spa. On top of budget cuts implemented by health insurers, this
has had a dramatic impact on many of the Czech Republic’s 37 spa
facilities. I discussed the situation with Martin Plachý of the Czech Spa
Association. More
Green Marketing expert: organic food sales holding their own in crisis
A survey of shopping habits by the KPMG agency published this week suggests
that organic food products have lost their initial attraction: shoppers
find them too expensive and often question their superior quality.
According to the results of the poll only 4 percent of Czechs buy organic
food on a regular basis. 37 percent of respondents said they did so
occasionally and approximately the same number of people said they had
tried organic products in the past but no longer shopped for them. So are
Czechs losing interest in organic food and should organic farmers and
producers be worried? I spoke to Tom Vaclavík of Green Marketing to find
out how organic products are doing on the market. More
New TI study finds bribery during road checks most common form of corruption that gets prosecuted
A new study by the Czech branch of the anti-corruption group Transparency
International looks at how Czech courts deal with bribery. The study, which
analyzed some 250 bribery-related cases over the last three years, follows
up a similar analysis from three years ago, and suggests that some
improvement has been made. One of the authors of the study, Martin Novák,
says that by the far the highest number of bribery cases that made it to
court relate to police road checks. More
Foreigners no longer big players in Prague’s property market
After years of growth, the real estate market in the Czech capital has seen
a slow but steady decline, with decreasing prices and many more new
listings having turned Prague property into a buyer’s market. One factor
behind the change is waning interest from foreigners to invest into real
estate in the Czech capital. However, some parts of Prague have become more
attractive for Czechs and foreigners alike, while others remain popular
primarily with foreign clients. More
Czechs face biggest unemployment rate since Great Depression
Unemployment in the Czech Republic hit a record high at the start of the
year. January saw close to 590,000 people out of work, the worst
unemployment rate since the Great Depression in the 1930s. The government
says this is largely the result of external factors, but critics and trade
unions claim the government’s ill-conceived austerity measures have
undercut growth. More
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