Manufacturing and services
Service industries
The leading location for service industries in South Moravia is undoubtedly the city of Brno. Not only is more than 50 % of its workforce employed in services but also the breadth of service activities in this city and the education standards (the highest share of university graduates in the Czech Republic, availability of workforce with foreign language capabilities etc.) rank the city as a very competitive location not only within the Czech Republic but also within the Central European region as a whole. This fact has been confirmed by foreign investments such as Grissoft, IBM, Logica CMG, NESS Technologies, SAP and Siemens which have their software design centres here, or companies such as Bio Vendor, Control Techniques, Flextronics, Honeywell, FEI, IMI Norgren, MMM Group, Pliva, Tescan, Timken and Tyco Integrated Systems which all have their research and development centres in Brno.
An important employer in the service industries in Brno is also Trade Fairs Brno (Veletrhy Brno; www.bvv.cz) - the largest company specialising in fairs and exhibitions in Central Europe. Veletrhy Brno, however, are not just an important employer in the sector of service industries but also acts as one of the main catalysts of the regional economy which makes Brno an important centre of international trade. Every year its main exhibitions - especially those specialised in IT, engineering, automotive and others - attract thousands of business people and visitors.
Major companies have established here shared service centres, customer support centres and call centres. Among other companies, those include: Acer, Česká pojišťovna, Oskar Mobil/Vodafone, EON, IBM, Lufthansa, Progeon and Symbol Technologies.
Manufacturing
The region's most important industries are engineering, especially power engineering, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. Second comes electronics followed by textile manufacturing, which, however, is still largely in decline. Also important are food-processing, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, glass and ceramics and wood-processing industries.
In terms of employment South Moravia's main industry is still engineering. In Brno it is especially power engineering (ABB-Lummus, Alstom Power, Královopolská, První brněnská strojírna, all in Brno), manufacturing of tractors and agricultural machinery (Zetor in Brno), textile machinery (SVV Elitex in Brno), precision engineering (Aguna and Daido Metal in Brno), hydraulic and pneumatic equipment (Poclain Hydraulics, SMC Industrial Automation, Bosch-Rexroth in Brno, IMI Norgren in Modřice and Manuli Hzdraulics in Pohořelice), machine parts (Bemex Bimetallic, Danaher Motion and PSM International in Modřice), compressors for air conditioning systems (Daikin Industries and Ohmori Technos Corporation in Brno), forming machines (Šmeral), transport equipment (IFE Knorr Bremse, Frencken, E.W.C.), roller bearings (ZKL), vaults (Bodepanzer in Rajhrad) and armaments (VSM, Zbrojovka Brno).
Another major concentration of engineering firms lies north of Brno in Blansko (ČKD and Metra – water turbines and measuring equipment, respectively), Adamov (ADAST – machines for printing industry and pumping equipment), Kuřim (TOS - cutting machines and flexible production centres) and Boskovice Minerva – sewing machines, Novibra – spindles for textile machines). In the southern part of the region engineering is represented in Břeclav by two major lift and escalator manufacturers OTIS and OTIS-Escalators, in Hustopeče (Mostárna – cranes and bridges, Worthington Gastec – pressure vessels, GEMI and Westphalia – automotive components), in Znojmo (TOS Znojmo-tools, gear-boxes, Sklářské stroje-machines for glass indurstry, Znojemské strojírny-tools) and in Mikulov (Strojírny Pálava-machines, Nichias-gaskets). Important engineering and metal working companies are also present in Hodonín area (Jihomoravská armaturka in Hodonín – armatures and fitting, Narex in Kyjov- thread cutting tools, Šroubárna in Kyjov – screws and other joining material), in Vyškov (GFR – steel structures, Rostex – tools) and in Znojmo (TOS Znojmo – tools and gear boxes, Sklářské stroje – machines for glass industry, Znojemské strojírny – tools). The electrical engineering sector has a tradition of nearly a century in South Moravia too and is, again, concentrated mainly in Brno and its vicinity – Honeywell, VUES and ZPA in Brno, Siemens Electric Machines in Drásov, Juli-Motorenwerk in Moravany, EMP in Slavkov and other places.
Electronics, IT and ITC technology are industries that have experienced a major growth in South Moravia over the past ten years. The recent boom of this sector builds on a long tradition of research and development in these fields in Brno. These favourable conditions also played a key role in attracting a strong inflow of foreign direct investment into these high-tech sectors (companies such as Acer, Ademco-Honeywell, Control Techniques, FEI, GigaByte Technology, Symbol Technologies and Tescan in Brno, Tyco-AMP in Kuřim, Celestica and TBE in Blansko and ALPS in Boskovice or Andrew Corporation and Inventec in Modřice).
Chemical, pharmaceutical and plastics industries are represented in the cities of Břeclav (Fosfa- fertilizers, Gumotex- rubber and plastic parts), Brno (Pliva Lachema - pharmaceuticals, Mergon International – industrial lighting, Hlubna - cleaning chemicals and cosmetics, Beghelli - plastics, CarClo - technical plastics), Vyškov (GM - technical plastics), Ivanovice na Hané (Bioveta - pharmaceuticals for veterinary purposes) and Skrchov in the north (Teluria - dyes and paints).
A significant company in the mining industry is Moravské naftové doly in Hodonín.
Ceramics industry is strongly present in Znojmo (sanitary ceramics - KZ Rocca) and its surroundings (Saint Gobain-Vertex in Moravský Krumlov and Hodonice – optical fibers) in the southwestern part of the region and also in Rájec-Jestřebí (Moravské keramické závody - tiles and fire-clay goods) and Velké Opatovice (MŠLZ - clay products) in the north. The biggest glass manufacturer in South Moravia is a swiss-owned company Vetropack in Kyjov (glass bottles) located in Kyjov. and a traditional glass manufacturing is located in the very north of the region in Úsobrno (Sklárny Moravia - technical glass and bottles).
Wood processing and furniture manufacturing: the biggest representatives in South Moravia are located in the Vyškov district in the east – in Rousínov (Tusculum - furniture), Vyškov (Magnum - wooden floors) and there were a big tradition of furniture production in Bučovice microregion. Furthermore, there are also several important wood and furniture manufacturers in Hodonín (ZPD – plywood, DYAS – veneer and sawn wood bankrupt at present) and Znojmo (Dřevotvar, Koller – furniture and sawn wood respectively).
Textile manufacturing is a branch that experienced a severe decline during the 1990s. A number of companies disappeared altogether and their activities have been only partly compensated for by new SMEs. The most important centres of textile and ready-made clothing industries are in Brno ( Nová Mosilana, Luwa – both foreign-owned), followed by two towns in the north of the region - Boskovice (Kras-Haka) and Letovice (Tylex). Important traditional textile companies exist also in Ivančice southwest of Brno (Lanatex, Retex) and in the Hodonín district in the south-east - Strážnice, Velká nad Veličkou (Kordárna). A new, Czech-owned company Pegas in Znojmo (non-woven textiles) is a success story of a small firm that became a textile market leader over the past decade.
Printing and paper industries are present in Brno (Moravská typografie – printing), Břeclav (Moravipress – printing), in Veverská Bítýška (Hartmann-Rico – hygienic materials) and Slavkov (Lohmann & Rauscher – bandages) near Brno.
Food processing industry is spread throughout much of the region with somewhat higher concentrations in the southern and eastern districts of the region - districts of Brno, Brno-district, Hodonín, Znojmo and Břeclav (meat processing - Promt in Modřice, sugar factories - Moravskoslezské cukrovary a. s. in Hrušovany nad Jevišovkou, fruit and vegetable canneries). There are also four large breweries in South Moravia - Starobrno in Brno, Hostan in Znojmo, Pivovar Vyškov and Pivovar Černá Hora, and a large number of wine makers, mostly small producers, but also a few important large-scale producers (Víno Mikulov, Vinium Velké Pavlovice, Znovín Znojmo).
Agriculture: despite being one of the most fertile parts of the Czech Republic with a relatively important role played by agriculture, the overall importance of this sector in the economy of the region is relatively small and is on a further decrease. Currently agriculture employs less than 6 per cent of labour force. Crops cultivated in the region are mainly corn (wheat, barley, oats), maize, sugar beet and oil-seed rape. Wine-making is an important regional speciality with over 90 % of Czech vineyards located in South Moravia.