Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Casual Articles - Investing in Prague Property
Have you received a structured settlement recently? A structured settlement can be a good thing if you have been a victim of malfeasance, have been severely injured or can no longer physically work. Structured settlements will help you pay bills. But what do you do if you have a structured settlement, which is coming your way and you really have decided that you might prefer to have the cash instead? Well, if this is the case you are in luck because there are companies, which will buy your structured settlement for a discounted price?This is similar to factoring which is used in businesses, which need to maintain their cash flows. They can sell accounts receivables to another company as an investment and get the money that is owed to them in advance. For instance let’s say a company, which does janitorial services for a government agency, which are notoriously slow to pay and that government agency owes them $30,000 for services already completed? A factoring company will buy that check which is in the mail so to speak for $25,500 and give the money to the company now. You may say well that is 15% of the $30,000; yes it is, but if a small business does not get the money in time they could go out of business because the government is so slow to pay on their contract. Going out of business is not a good thing and if it happens all the money invested and time to build the business is out the window.Let us say you have a structured settlement and you cash out of the deal using the same type of company? They will get the structured settlement money each month istead of you, but you will have all the money up front minus a 10-15% discount on the total money you
"Our customer centre is based on a different concept than usual. Its foundation is not administrative workers but technical personnel, which allows us to provide highly specialized and individual service," said Vladimir Hendrych, Country Manager of Interoute for Central and Eastern Europe.
December 2005: DHL continues to see success for their investment in Czech Republic. DHL has invested over 500 million EURO over 5 years into their IT center in Prague. DHL currently employs over 900 at their center. About three quarters of these are Czech and the rest from 46 other countries.
"We made the decision to come here in 2003, and since then it has become even more desirable," says McGuckin, Prague-based managing director of IT services. He cited Prague's numerous air links to the rest of Europe, its good infrastructure, a business-friendly climate, low wages and low salary inflation for this statement.
December 2005: Changhong, a leading Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer announced it decision to build its new television-assembly plant in the town of Nymburk (around 50 km from Prague). This is historic since it represents the first major Chinese investment into Czech Republic. In it's first phase the manufacturer will invest a total of 10 million USD into the new factory and employ some 300 people.
"After a thorough screening of the CEE region, we chose the most convenient country for our investment - this being the Czech Republic. The main reason is the central location with respect to our European customers as well as the availability of a skilled workforce," stated Zhao Yong, Chairman of the Board of Changhong, adding: "The initial in
Many salesmanship business cassette tapes and sales marketing books from Zig Zigglar to Tom Hopkins tell salesmen and women that when the prospect says NO, that is only the starting point. But any good businessman will tell you that you must know when No means NO WAY! And to that point aggravating the potential customer some day in the far off future is indeed a bad move. Sale people should recognize when no means no.They should also remain friends and not allow NO to stick in their minds as a demeaning comment to the product or service they sell or even to themselves; unfortunately many sales people are competitive and often too competitive for their own britches or the health of their companies future. If every sales person makes every NO they get as a personal challenge they will make sales an even more despised profession that it is already perceived to be by so many folks; calling them all used car salesmen and scum.If the sales person will instead take another approach and tell them all right then let me give you my card and tell you all the things we can and cannot do and then you can take all that information and put it in a file if you ever need it okay? Well this is the better approach to a Super Strong NO! And this is the best thing to do to keep open communications and perhaps check back if it seems appropriate at a much later date. Consider all this in 2006.
With the Czech economy running red-hot, in fact, at a stunning 6% last year (2005 GDP), there is good reason to consider this beautiful capital as a strong investment choice. Czech Republic's results far outstripped the average EU GDP growth of 1.6% and those of Hungary (4.1%) and Poland (3.2%). Slovakia alone equaled Czech Republic in terms of growth.
Economic Indicator - GDP
2000/3.9%
2001/2.6%
2002/1.5%
2003/3.7%
2004/4.0%
2005/6.0%
Not only was 2005 extraordinary in terms of Czech GDP growth but also with the sheer number of new investment projects and with this, the total foreign investment (FDI). Total FDI in 2005 was more than 263 billion CZK (11 billion USD) which is the highest figure in history in terms of dollars and second highest in terms of CZK.
Economic Indicator - FDI (USD billion)
2000/5.0
2001/5.5
2002/8.4
2003/2.6
2004/4.0
2005/11.0
However, what does all of this mean with regard to the residential property market?
Higher GDP usually translates into higher disposable income for the population. Much of this increase is focused on Prague where the average gross monthly wages was 23 000 CZK as compared to the national average of 18 900 (Q3 2005).
Also, unemployment is much lower in Prague compared with the rest of Czech Republic. The national average is 9% and Prague's is 3.25% (Q3 2005).
Even the sheer number of tourists in Prague affects property prices as some are purchased for the short-term rental market. Each quarter in 2005 averaged 950 000 tourists. It is rare to find in Prague private accommodation for under 1 400 CZK/night. It only goes up from there. A well-located apartment with a professional marketing and management company can make an excellent return.
What other major investment news is there that affects your decision as an investor? Here is a selection from 2005 and newer.
Other Investment News (from CzechInvest and other news sources)
March 2005: Czech airlines (CSA) is establishing a new repair center in Prague. It will eventually employ up 400 specialized aviation mechanics and other technicians. 1.35 billion CZK will be invested into setting up the facility.
"The project for this new repair center is based upon CSA's long-term strategic plans for developing its technological base camp for airplane and aircraft component maintenance and repair in close proximity to the international Prague - Ruzyne airport," says CSA president Jaroslav Tvrdik
April 2005: Scottish company Incline opened its high-tech centre in Prague-Letnany which services flat LCD notebooks, LCD televisions and plasma screens. 165 new jobs will be created at its new center.
"The growing demand of our customers in the European region induced us to increase our capacity and build a repair centre right in Central Europe," said David McKinney, Executive Director of Incline Global Technology Services, and added: "The Czech Republic was chosen because of its excellent infrastructure and its experienced labour pool. I trust that we will succeed in building a world-class centre here."
April 2005: Toyota Peugeot Citro?n Automobile (TPCA) launches production in the Czech Republic. Total investment into their new plant in Kolin amounted to 1.3 billion EURO. An estimated staff of 3 000 will eventually be employed here.
"The TPCA launch will be one of the factors behind this year's national GDP surpassing the four percent mark," said Martin Jahn, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs. "However, there are also other aspects of this investment with material importance for our economy, among them the import of modern technology and the transfer of the unique manufacturing know-how that the entire world has tried to copy from Toyota. TPCA has already made contact with the Technical College CVUT in Prague, planning to tap its pool of top-class experts in order to fill key positions in the firm. TPCA is also planning to cooperate with other technical universities."
June 2005: Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE: CA) declared its intended creation of the first worldwide Mainframe Centre of Excellence in Prague. The new Centre will focus on software development, maintenance, validation and quality assurance for the mainframe computing environment. This is estimated to be a 36 million EURO investment. More than 200 are expected to be hired and trained for this facility.
Guy Harrison, senior vice president, Development Operations at CA said "This Centre of Excellence will provide mainframe users worldwide with a host of innovations, and will help strengthen the Czech Republic's position as a hub of IT activity."
June 2005: Accenture, a global management consulting held the official grand opening of its new facility in its shared services centre in Prague-Chodov. Accenture, who fourteen years ago entered the Czech market, is expanding rapidly here - employing more than 1,300 people and continues to expand.
August 2005: International rating agency Fitch upgraded all its ratings of credit reliability for the Czech Republic. It gave the Czech Republic an A for its long-term foreign currency obligations compared to the previous A-. The short-term currency rating jumped to F1 from F2 and the state's rating ceiling reached AA- from A+. The rating for long-term debts in Czech crowns was also raised from A to A+.
"Strong economic growth, continued real convergence with Western Europe and moderate external financing risks support the upgrade of the Czech Republic's sovereign ratings," says David Heslam, Associate Director in Fitch's Sovereign group.
September 2005: SAP AG officially opened its newest shared services center, the SAP Business Services Center Europe (BSCE) in Prague, Czech Republic. As of September 2005, 132 employees worked at the center and they supported 70 countries in 15 different languages.
"As a high performance company, it is SAP's strategy to effectively and efficiently support core internal functions such as HR and F&A throughout the global business. In addition to providing HR and F&A services to SAP employees, the center also offers customers unique insight into how 'SAP runs SAP' in performing these services," said Claus Heinrich, member of the executive board, SAP AG. "The new BSCE here in Prague, with its highly skilled team, is a key milestone in executing to this strategy."
November 2005: Pan-European telecommunications company Interoute moves their key customer center from Great Britain to Prague. Over 100 specialists will eventually be employed here over a period of 3 years.
"Our customer centre is based on a different concept than usual. Its foundation is not administrative workers but technical personnel, which allows us to provide highly specialized and individual service," said Vladimir Hendrych, Country Manager of Interoute for Central and Eastern Europe.
December 2005: DHL continues to see success for their investment in Czech Republic. DHL has invested over 500 million EURO over 5 years into their IT center in Prague. DHL currently employs over 900 at their center. About three quarters of these are Czech and the rest from 46 other countries.
"We made the decision to come here in 2003, and since then it has become even more desirable," says McGuckin, Prague-based managing director of IT services. He cited Prague's numerous air links to the rest of Europe, its good infrastructure, a business-friendly climate, low wages and low salary inflation for this statement.
December 2005: Changhong, a leading Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer announced it decision to build its new television-assembly plant in the town of Nymburk (around 50 km from Prague). This is historic since it represents the first major Chinese investment into Czech Republic. In it's first phase the manufacturer will invest a total of 10 million USD into the new factory and employ some 300 people.
"After a thorough screening of the CEE region, we chose the most convenient country for our investment - this being the Czech Republic. The main reason is the central location with respect to our European customers as well as the availability of a skilled workforce," stated Zhao Yong, Chairman of the Board of Changhong, adding: "The initial inv
The mantra of selling solutions has taken enterprise software by storm and nowhere is this more prevalent than CRM. Honestly, it seems like the more challenging and difficult it is to sell into specific sectors of CRM, the more solution selling is being invoked. All this newfound religion of selling solutions is truly transforming some companies away from being purely product-centric to being problem-centered on their customers’ broken business processes first. The most positive aspect of solution selling pervading the best-of-breed CRM community is that it is starting to make a difference.These best of breed vendors who are walking the solutions talk also have generated a side benefit no one is really talking about when it comes to solutions selling, and that benefit is integrity. Amazing as it sounds I don’t think enough companies really stop and think about the long-term implications to their integrity of giving themselves the label of being a “solutions seller” without earning it. In fact it’s just as easy for a company to claim they are “customer focused” as being enlightened at solution selling without being either.What’s unsettling and troublesome is that so many CRM vendors, in trouble with thinning pipelines on the one hand and competitors from the SaaS world nipping at their heels including Salesforce.com at the low-end and mid-range of the market on the other, jump to solutions selling without thinking about how to build integrity in the process. The bottom line is that solution selling for the troubled CRM vendors of today is just like the “Hail Mary” long pass in football often thrown in the last seconds of a half or game, hoping someone
What other major investment news is there that affects your decision as an investor? Here is a selection from 2005 and newer.
Other Investment News (from CzechInvest and other news sources)
March 2005: Czech airlines (CSA) is establishing a new repair center in Prague. It will eventually employ up 400 specialized aviation mechanics and other technicians. 1.35 billion CZK will be invested into setting up the facility.
"The project for this new repair center is based upon CSA's long-term strategic plans for developing its technological base camp for airplane and aircraft component maintenance and repair in close proximity to the international Prague - Ruzyne airport," says CSA president Jaroslav Tvrdik
April 2005: Scottish company Incline opened its high-tech centre in Prague-Letnany which services flat LCD notebooks, LCD televisions and plasma screens. 165 new jobs will be created at its new center.
"The growing demand of our customers in the European region induced us to increase our capacity and build a repair centre right in Central Europe," said David McKinney, Executive Director of Incline Global Technology Services, and added: "The Czech Republic was chosen because of its excellent infrastructure and its experienced labour pool. I trust that we will succeed in building a world-class centre here."
April 2005: Toyota Peugeot Citro?n Automobile (TPCA) launches production in the Czech Republic. Total investment into their new plant in Kolin amounted to 1.3 billion EURO. An estimated staff of 3 000 will eventually be employed here.
"The TPCA launch will be one of the factors behind this year's national GDP surpassing the four percent mark," said Martin Jahn, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs. "However, there are also other aspects of this investment with material importance for our economy, among them the import of modern technology and the transfer of the unique manufacturing know-how that the entire world has tried to copy from Toyota. TPCA has already made contact with the Technical College CVUT in Prague, planning to tap its pool of top-class experts in order to fill key positions in the firm. TPCA is also planning to cooperate with other technical universities."
June 2005: Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE: CA) declared its intended creation of the first worldwide Mainframe Centre of Excellence in Prague. The new Centre will focus on software development, maintenance, validation and quality assurance for the mainframe computing environment. This is estimated to be a 36 million EURO investment. More than 200 are expected to be hired and trained for this facility.
Guy Harrison, senior vice president, Development Operations at CA said "This Centre of Excellence will provide mainframe users worldwide with a host of innovations, and will help strengthen the Czech Republic's position as a hub of IT activity."
June 2005: Accenture, a global management consulting held the official grand opening of its new facility in its shared services centre in Prague-Chodov. Accenture, who fourteen years ago entered the Czech market, is expanding rapidly here - employing more than 1,300 people and continues to expand.
August 2005: International rating agency Fitch upgraded all its ratings of credit reliability for the Czech Republic. It gave the Czech Republic an A for its long-term foreign currency obligations compared to the previous A-. The short-term currency rating jumped to F1 from F2 and the state's rating ceiling reached AA- from A+. The rating for long-term debts in Czech crowns was also raised from A to A+.
"Strong economic growth, continued real convergence with Western Europe and moderate external financing risks support the upgrade of the Czech Republic's sovereign ratings," says David Heslam, Associate Director in Fitch's Sovereign group.
September 2005: SAP AG officially opened its newest shared services center, the SAP Business Services Center Europe (BSCE) in Prague, Czech Republic. As of September 2005, 132 employees worked at the center and they supported 70 countries in 15 different languages.
"As a high performance company, it is SAP's strategy to effectively and efficiently support core internal functions such as HR and F&A throughout the global business. In addition to providing HR and F&A services to SAP employees, the center also offers customers unique insight into how 'SAP runs SAP' in performing these services," said Claus Heinrich, member of the executive board, SAP AG. "The new BSCE here in Prague, with its highly skilled team, is a key milestone in executing to this strategy."
November 2005: Pan-European telecommunications company Interoute moves their key customer center from Great Britain to Prague. Over 100 specialists will eventually be employed here over a period of 3 years.
"Our customer centre is based on a different concept than usual. Its foundation is not administrative workers but technical personnel, which allows us to provide highly specialized and individual service," said Vladimir Hendrych, Country Manager of Interoute for Central and Eastern Europe.
December 2005: DHL continues to see success for their investment in Czech Republic. DHL has invested over 500 million EURO over 5 years into their IT center in Prague. DHL currently employs over 900 at their center. About three quarters of these are Czech and the rest from 46 other countries.
"We made the decision to come here in 2003, and since then it has become even more desirable," says McGuckin, Prague-based managing director of IT services. He cited Prague's numerous air links to the rest of Europe, its good infrastructure, a business-friendly climate, low wages and low salary inflation for this statement.
December 2005: Changhong, a leading Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer announced it decision to build its new television-assembly plant in the town of Nymburk (around 50 km from Prague). This is historic since it represents the first major Chinese investment into Czech Republic. In it's first phase the manufacturer will invest a total of 10 million USD into the new factory and employ some 300 people.
"After a thorough screening of the CEE region, we chose the most convenient country for our investment - this being the Czech Republic. The main reason is the central location with respect to our European customers as well as the availability of a skilled workforce," stated Zhao Yong, Chairman of the Board of Changhong, adding: "The initial in
Regardless of your English as a Foreign Language teaching area, with competition mounting it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand out and get yourself and your teaching practices noticed. One crucial, but often neglected area that you can address immediately is your image as an EFL or TESOL teaching professional. Here are some key ways you can help raise yourself head and shoulders above the rest of the teaching pack and increase your chances of development, professional and personal success.1. Dress for SuccessIncredibly, there are those who give little attention to the image they present. Any TESOL teaching related contact must be treated as an opportunity to further your skills, knowledge and professional interests. You should be groomed to the point of being precise whenever engaged in teaching or when giving presentations. Always be sure to be properly attired for appointments, meetings and conferences. Your TEFL teaching area or EFL classroom should always be in presentable condition. How does it look? How does it smell? Clean the floors, empty the trash, dust and get rid of anything scurrying around with more than two legs, etc.2. Have well – prepared, precise EFL teaching materialsAny paperwork or materials related to your teaching must clearly identify its purpose. You should have letterhead stationery for both online and off line dealings. Other documents which must be well-prepared in advance of any outside contact include envelopes, contracts, invoices, receipts, flyers, brochures, letters, folders and business cards. (You DO have EFL teaching business cards, don’t you?) Keep your materials focused. Do not adopt a one-format
"The TPCA launch will be one of the factors behind this year's national GDP surpassing the four percent mark," said Martin Jahn, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs. "However, there are also other aspects of this investment with material importance for our economy, among them the import of modern technology and the transfer of the unique manufacturing know-how that the entire world has tried to copy from Toyota. TPCA has already made contact with the Technical College CVUT in Prague, planning to tap its pool of top-class experts in order to fill key positions in the firm. TPCA is also planning to cooperate with other technical universities."
June 2005: Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE: CA) declared its intended creation of the first worldwide Mainframe Centre of Excellence in Prague. The new Centre will focus on software development, maintenance, validation and quality assurance for the mainframe computing environment. This is estimated to be a 36 million EURO investment. More than 200 are expected to be hired and trained for this facility.
Guy Harrison, senior vice president, Development Operations at CA said "This Centre of Excellence will provide mainframe users worldwide with a host of innovations, and will help strengthen the Czech Republic's position as a hub of IT activity."
June 2005: Accenture, a global management consulting held the official grand opening of its new facility in its shared services centre in Prague-Chodov. Accenture, who fourteen years ago entered the Czech market, is expanding rapidly here - employing more than 1,300 people and continues to expand.
August 2005: International rating agency Fitch upgraded all its ratings of credit reliability for the Czech Republic. It gave the Czech Republic an A for its long-term foreign currency obligations compared to the previous A-. The short-term currency rating jumped to F1 from F2 and the state's rating ceiling reached AA- from A+. The rating for long-term debts in Czech crowns was also raised from A to A+.
"Strong economic growth, continued real convergence with Western Europe and moderate external financing risks support the upgrade of the Czech Republic's sovereign ratings," says David Heslam, Associate Director in Fitch's Sovereign group.
September 2005: SAP AG officially opened its newest shared services center, the SAP Business Services Center Europe (BSCE) in Prague, Czech Republic. As of September 2005, 132 employees worked at the center and they supported 70 countries in 15 different languages.
"As a high performance company, it is SAP's strategy to effectively and efficiently support core internal functions such as HR and F&A throughout the global business. In addition to providing HR and F&A services to SAP employees, the center also offers customers unique insight into how 'SAP runs SAP' in performing these services," said Claus Heinrich, member of the executive board, SAP AG. "The new BSCE here in Prague, with its highly skilled team, is a key milestone in executing to this strategy."
November 2005: Pan-European telecommunications company Interoute moves their key customer center from Great Britain to Prague. Over 100 specialists will eventually be employed here over a period of 3 years.
"Our customer centre is based on a different concept than usual. Its foundation is not administrative workers but technical personnel, which allows us to provide highly specialized and individual service," said Vladimir Hendrych, Country Manager of Interoute for Central and Eastern Europe.
December 2005: DHL continues to see success for their investment in Czech Republic. DHL has invested over 500 million EURO over 5 years into their IT center in Prague. DHL currently employs over 900 at their center. About three quarters of these are Czech and the rest from 46 other countries.
"We made the decision to come here in 2003, and since then it has become even more desirable," says McGuckin, Prague-based managing director of IT services. He cited Prague's numerous air links to the rest of Europe, its good infrastructure, a business-friendly climate, low wages and low salary inflation for this statement.
December 2005: Changhong, a leading Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer announced it decision to build its new television-assembly plant in the town of Nymburk (around 50 km from Prague). This is historic since it represents the first major Chinese investment into Czech Republic. In it's first phase the manufacturer will invest a total of 10 million USD into the new factory and employ some 300 people.
"After a thorough screening of the CEE region, we chose the most convenient country for our investment - this being the Czech Republic. The main reason is the central location with respect to our European customers as well as the availability of a skilled workforce," stated Zhao Yong, Chairman of the Board of Changhong, adding: "The initial in
Top Website design is a combination of usability, search engine optimization and aesthetics. If you work hard to make usability a priority, and spend time developing a pleasing and professional layout, your visitors will reward you with purchases and return visits. But without search engine optimization, all of your hard work might go unnoticed.Search engine optimization works with your site's usability because search engines are looking for the same things users are looking for in a Website and they will recognize and reward a usable Website design. And SEO feeds Website usability if the site is optimized properly on relevant keywords. For example, the very first part of Web usability is assisting users to find what they are seeking. Good keyword research and keyword placement in your pages does that.Top 3 elements of search engine optimization1) Research keywords to be sure you are using relevant search terms that are meaningful to your prospects in your niche. Don't leave this important step out. Don't guess at what words are used to find the products and information you provide. Know what they are instead. If the cost of keyword research is prohibitive, use free tools like Google Suggest and Wordtracker's free keyword tool to help find the best keywords for your niche.2) Use your keywords in the Web page title, description and headings, as well as in the text. Always be certain that you use relevant, researched keywords in page titles. Proper use of page titles is a primary element of implementing good search engine optimization in top Website designs.3) Build your Website's reputation with incoming links from
August 2005: International rating agency Fitch upgraded all its ratings of credit reliability for the Czech Republic. It gave the Czech Republic an A for its long-term foreign currency obligations compared to the previous A-. The short-term currency rating jumped to F1 from F2 and the state's rating ceiling reached AA- from A+. The rating for long-term debts in Czech crowns was also raised from A to A+.
"Strong economic growth, continued real convergence with Western Europe and moderate external financing risks support the upgrade of the Czech Republic's sovereign ratings," says David Heslam, Associate Director in Fitch's Sovereign group.
September 2005: SAP AG officially opened its newest shared services center, the SAP Business Services Center Europe (BSCE) in Prague, Czech Republic. As of September 2005, 132 employees worked at the center and they supported 70 countries in 15 different languages.
"As a high performance company, it is SAP's strategy to effectively and efficiently support core internal functions such as HR and F&A throughout the global business. In addition to providing HR and F&A services to SAP employees, the center also offers customers unique insight into how 'SAP runs SAP' in performing these services," said Claus Heinrich, member of the executive board, SAP AG. "The new BSCE here in Prague, with its highly skilled team, is a key milestone in executing to this strategy."
November 2005: Pan-European telecommunications company Interoute moves their key customer center from Great Britain to Prague. Over 100 specialists will eventually be employed here over a period of 3 years.
"Our customer centre is based on a different concept than usual. Its foundation is not administrative workers but technical personnel, which allows us to provide highly specialized and individual service," said Vladimir Hendrych, Country Manager of Interoute for Central and Eastern Europe.
December 2005: DHL continues to see success for their investment in Czech Republic. DHL has invested over 500 million EURO over 5 years into their IT center in Prague. DHL currently employs over 900 at their center. About three quarters of these are Czech and the rest from 46 other countries.
"We made the decision to come here in 2003, and since then it has become even more desirable," says McGuckin, Prague-based managing director of IT services. He cited Prague's numerous air links to the rest of Europe, its good infrastructure, a business-friendly climate, low wages and low salary inflation for this statement.
December 2005: Changhong, a leading Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer announced it decision to build its new television-assembly plant in the town of Nymburk (around 50 km from Prague). This is historic since it represents the first major Chinese investment into Czech Republic. In it's first phase the manufacturer will invest a total of 10 million USD into the new factory and employ some 300 people.
"After a thorough screening of the CEE region, we chose the most convenient country for our investment - this being the Czech Republic. The main reason is the central location with respect to our European customers as well as the availability of a skilled workforce," stated Zhao Yong, Chairman of the Board of Changhong, adding: "The initial in
A trademark is a distinctive image, word or other thing that associates with a product or service. So, can you trademark your business name?Most people think trademarks are logo oriented. In some ways, this is true. The Nike Swoosh is clearly a logo trademark that stands out in peoples minds. When you see it, you immediately think of Nike and its products. While logos can clearly be trademarked, what about a business name? The answer is both yes and no.A trademark is a consumer oriented thing. While it protects the intellectual property of businesses, it is a legal step designed to protect consumers. The basic idea is a trademark should point to a particular product or service and only be used by the company backing those items. This helps consumers in two ways. First, it represents an assurance of a particular type of quality associated with the products or services provided by the company. Second, it precludes other companies from causing consumer confusion by infringing on that mark.When it comes to your business name, you can trademark it if certain requirements are met. I am going to avoid the legal mumbo jumbo that confuses people, and stick with a general rule of thumb. If you use your business name in advertising or on the product or service, you can trademark it. A classic example is “Google”. Google is both a company name and used on the service itself. When you go to the home page of Google, you see “Google” prominently displayed. As a result, this business name can be trademarked.If you do not use your business name in a direct communication to consumers, you cannot trademark it. Why? Well, there is nothing distinct about it that
"Our customer centre is based on a different concept than usual. Its foundation is not administrative workers but technical personnel, which allows us to provide highly specialized and individual service," said Vladimir Hendrych, Country Manager of Interoute for Central and Eastern Europe.
December 2005: DHL continues to see success for their investment in Czech Republic. DHL has invested over 500 million EURO over 5 years into their IT center in Prague. DHL currently employs over 900 at their center. About three quarters of these are Czech and the rest from 46 other countries.
"We made the decision to come here in 2003, and since then it has become even more desirable," says McGuckin, Prague-based managing director of IT services. He cited Prague's numerous air links to the rest of Europe, its good infrastructure, a business-friendly climate, low wages and low salary inflation for this statement.
December 2005: Changhong, a leading Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer announced it decision to build its new television-assembly plant in the town of Nymburk (around 50 km from Prague). This is historic since it represents the first major Chinese investment into Czech Republic. In it's first phase the manufacturer will invest a total of 10 million USD into the new factory and employ some 300 people.
"After a thorough screening of the CEE region, we chose the most convenient country for our investment - this being the Czech Republic. The main reason is the central location with respect to our European customers as well as the availability of a skilled workforce," stated Zhao Yong, Chairman of the Board of Changhong, adding: "The initial investment is a part of our first-phase plan, and other expansion plans are being discussed. This means that a substantial increase in investment and the number of employees is possible in coming years."
December 2005: The Czech branch of software company Microsoft together with the government agency CzechInvest will open a new software development center in the Czech Republic early next year known as SoftInvest. 150 to 200 IT specialists will work on demanding projects in cooperation with local universities to develop new software and innovative solutions. Microsoft in addition is still considering building another, this time European, technical support center in the Czech Republic.
"By the end of the year we want to put our intent into the form of an fully concrete project. Barring any obstacles we will set up such a center as early as January," stated CEO of Microsoft CR and SR Jiri Devat, and added: "The future of the center will be in teaming up technical universities on one side and local partners from the software industry on the other side."
March 2006: Sun Microsystems has officially opened it's development center and the new headquarters of its Czech branch in the Chodov district of Prague. Microsystems total investment will equal 21.5 million USD in development specialists and high-tech equipment. By 2008 the current number of developers (400) is expected to double.
"We are very pleased that Sun chose to locate its development center in the Czech Republic over other attractive locations around the world," said Zdenek Pilz, general manager of Sun Microsystems' Czech branch, on the occasion of the new development center's opening. "Prague was chosen especially thanks to its abundance of software-development specialists, excellent infrastructure, stable economic and political environment, and-of no less importance-the helpful attitude of the government as represented by the agency CzechInvest."
Prague Property Figures Property Sale Figures
These are the figures as of March 27 2006.
68 m2 apartment with 40% wear
Average Price 1 986 000 CZK
Increase over last month 6.36%
Average Rental 8 972 CZK or 132 CZK/m2
Increase over last month 0.15%
Apartment Rental Figures
These are the figures (CZK/m2) as of November 15 2005.
Please click here to view the chart.
Working with the sale prices per square meter that we can find for Prague properties versus the average rental above we can see that rental yields of 5 to 7% are currently possible. With well-chosen properties it is even possible to go marginally higher.
The chart also demonstrates that with rent/m2 being higher for smaller flats it is also possible to get higher yields. Currently the market is flooded with luxury type flats that are for rent. Investors are being forced to lower their rates in order to attract tenants.
Because of the above factors we recommend investors buying flats where the rent would not exceed 12 000 CZK/month. Properties for rent in this range are in high demand and an investor will face less chance of vacancy.
Other Investment Factors
Mortgages are becoming more and more accessible to Czech citizens. Many of the younger generation are going from being cash oriented to facilitating their purchase with mortgages.
The Prague suburbs have seen an increased demand for family houses in the last year.
At the end of 2007 VAT is projected to go from the current 5% on new build and newly renovated properties to 19%. When this change goes into effect it is sure to have an impact on the market. It will likely be spread between increased costs to the consumer and decreased profits for the developer.
With regard to the VAT change please be aware that any purchases of projects which finish and receive occupation permission from the local authorities after the end of the year 2007 will be susceptible to 19% on the COMPLETE purchase price. This is a very important factor to be protected from in your contract in case projects due to be completed in the end of 2007 actually run over schedule (an often occurrence with developers) into 2008.
As we've emphasized before, at Czech Point 101 we are not going to over-inflate figures or try to sell you on hyped up facts. Our goal is to inform you to make the best investment decisions possible.
The sources for this newsletter include the iDnes.cz, IRI and CzechInvest.
For the most update information on the Prague property market please visit our page devoted to Prague property and what is happening on the market.
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.casualarticles.com/article/134190/casualarticles-Investing-in-Prague-Property.html">Investing in Prague Property</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.casualarticles.com/article/134190/casualarticles-Investing-in-Prague-Property.html]Investing in Prague Property[/url]
Related Articles:
Article Marketing - Write Your Way Into Search Results - Traffic And $$$
Does AdSense Make Your Website Look Cheap?
Personal Car Loan – Easy Way to Own a Dream Car
Bookmark it:
|