Prague - A leading global supplier of aircraft components Honeywell International is set to build a new production hall in Hlubočky near the Moravian town of Olomouc.

These are the first signs of investors showing interest in investing in the country again. Since last year the global economic crisis has frozen almost all investment activities in the country.

"In the past two months we have noted a slight improvement in investment. Investors have resumed their activities again, asking about investment possibilities," CzechInvest spokesperson Lucie Kocourková told Aktuálně.cz,

"In the meantime, we have finalized two projects," she added. The names of the new investors cannot be revealed at the moment, Kocourková said.

The Hlubočky Aerospace new production hall should see an employment growth. There should be over one thousand people employed only in the Aerospace firm.Now the company employs 750 people.

According to the annual report, the Honeywell firm employed 1480 people in total in September 2009.

"In 2009, the company is planning a 10-percent jobs growth," the report says.

Long way to go

Despite the improvement in investment activities in the country, this year will be far worse than the last year, the government-based agency CzechInvest says. The investments have declined by half down to 5 billion CZK throughout mid-year 2009.

In 2006 CzechInvest helped to coordinate investment projects amounting to 114 billion CZK.

"I don't think we will return to that level any time soon," CzechInvest head Alexandra Rudyšarová said.

"The economy will be slowly recovering but I suspect we have about ten years to go to reach the old high levels," she added.