Prague - There are about 70,000 foreign nationals who have an enterprise in the Czech Republic.

Two thirds come from Vietnam and Ukraine, while 12,000 entrepreneurs are from Slovakia.

There are entrepreneurs from 149 different countries registered in the country, including exotic destinations such as Vanuatu, Bangladesh, Uganda or British Virgin Islands.

This data has been provided by the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ) and Industry and Trade Ministry.

Read more: Czech tax law puts off foreign investors

Paying taxes? Yes and no

Many foreigners have more than one trade license. "In the first quarter of this year, almost 3 million trade licenses were issued in the Czech Republic, including 88,000 for foreign entrepreneurs," says the report.

Investors from abroad are active largely in trade and construction industry.

About one fifth of the foreigners staying in the Czech Republic legally have a trade license. According to tax consultants, they are honest in paying taxes to the same degree as their Czech colleagues.

It appears that the problem is not with those who have trade licenses, since they are properly registered with Czech authorities. The problem for tax authorities lies with people who do business and work illegally in the Czech Republic.

Read more: Agencies keep secret foreign work force numbers in ČR

A foreign entrepreneur may be helped in his business by a whole "clan" of his relatives whowork in the country without having been properly registered.

Put another way, some foreign businessmen provide "advanced services" to illegal workers, giving them all they need, from a job to accommodation.

Unlicensed businessmen

At the moment, there are no real estimates of how many unlicensed foreigners do business in the Czech Republic. Last estimates were released five years ago. These spoke of roughly 100,000-150,000 illegal businessmen.

Altogether, there are 350,000 foreigners working or running an enteprise in the Czech Republic. In the first six months of this year, roughly 32,000 foreigners have arrived in the country for work.

Of the 272,500 foreign workers registered in the country as of the end of June, most come from Slovakia, followed by Ukranians.