Final Word from Wednesday, October 5, 2005
The announcement last week that Hyundai will likely choose the CR for a new car plant has thrown cold water on ODS's campaign against investment incentives. There's little doubt that incentives played a big role in Hyundai's near-decision, but ODS Chair Mirek Topolánek told the Czech BBC last night that incentives in general are far down the list of what an investor looks at. More important, he said, are political and economic stability, the level of corruption, legal enforcement, taxes, depreciation and education. ODS wants to decrease corruption and improve the tax system, he said, so that investors don't need incentives to choose the CR. It all sounds very good, but what would an ODS government do if the next Hyundai said that this still isn't enough? The fear is that ODS would institute a case-by-case incentive program that opens the door even wider for backroom deals and political favoritism.[Czech Republic flat tax automobiles]