The International Business Forum

The International Business Forum (IBF) is an independent, non-profit organisation that was established at the end of 2007 to provide a platform for senior members of international companies to meet, share experiences, and actively look for opportunities to do business together.

Since its formation, the IBF has attracted some of the Czech Republic’s biggest foreign investors to its Patronage, and it includes on its Board and amongst its members, many of the most respected business people in the Czech Republic.

Attendance at IBF events is limited to the named representative(s) of a member company (who must be of senior management level or director), thereby ensuring that everyone attending is a decision-makers or similar – and, of course, topics for seminars and speakers are chosen accordingly. Membership of the IBF is also restricted, with new members having to go through a selection process that starts with the need for them to be put forward by an existing member.

MISSION

AIMS:

NEXT EVENTS

PREVIOUS EVENTS

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The second IBF Hotel and Hospitality half-day seminar

The second IBF Hotel and Hospitality half-day seminar took place on Tuesday, 21st February, 2023 in the wonderful theatre of the Hotel Fitzgerald in Karlin.

Doors opened at 08.30 which enabled the more than 40 IBF members and friends to grab a light breakfast in the bar area before taking their seats in the spectacular theatre. After a short welcome by the IBF Chairman, Jo Weaver, and a greeting by one of the owners of the hotel, Richard Jones, the presentations came thick and fast.

Michael Specking, the GM of the Hilton Hotel opened up with a fascinating insight into the workings of a hotel the size of the Hilton and the challenges it has had both during Covid and then the past year, particularly with the very reduced number of large-scale conferences that Prague is receiving right now, and the knock-on effect that that has had on the occupancy figures and room rates.

Michael was followed by David Nath, the head of the hotel section at Cushman & Wakefield, who gave a detailed presentation of the hospitality sector globally, particularly comparing figures from elsewhere with those being seen in the Czech Republic, and looking at the trends in travel and hospitality around the world. His talk was nicely balanced by that of Jan Adamek, the Managing Director of Jan Hospitality, who continued on a similar theme to David, but with a focus on Prague and the Czech Republic regions.

After a short coffee break, Stefano Cavagnetto, the Dean of the Business School at Prague City University, talked about the importance of identifying, training and supporting staff during these difficult times, when the common theme is that it is difficult to find good people to work in the hospitality sector, which leads to the importance of looking after those people that you already have.

Finally, Richard Jones gave an overview of the process that he and his partners went through once they had decided to buy the hotel, the difficulties that they went through, particularly when completing right in the middle of the Covid Pandemic, the reconstruction and the now ongoing operation of the hotel when the times are still difficult.

Whilst the original plan had been for everyone that wanted to stay on after the seminar to network and chat, nearly everyone took up Richard’s offer of a tour of the hotel, and finally, with some people leaving and others staying on for lunch in the hotel restaurant, the day was wrapped up, with the general feeling that this was one of the best events that the IBF had hosted for some time.

If you would like to see the presentations from this event, please contact info@ibforum.cz.

IBF Members’ Lunch

Monday, 16th January, 2023

On Monday, 16th January, 2023, the IBF held its first event of the new year, a Members’ Lunch in Zatisi Restaurant. As usual we were treated to wonderful food and a great ambience, as well as a very lively discussion that run throughout the lunch.

A great group of IBF members and friends discussed the events planned for the year and offered their own suggestions for new activities and speakers, some of which we hope to implement as we go through the year.

Our next IBF Members’ Lunch is planned for March. Keep your eye on the website for further information.

IBF Members’ Lunch

Wednesday, 9th November, 2022

On Wednesday, 9th November, the IBF hosted yet another of its popular members’ lunches in our partner, Zatisi Catering’s, lovely Zatisi Restaurant where, once again, the food, ambience and general good spirit of everyone attending made it a really great event.

A large group of both IBF members and friends enjoyed many different lively discussions and for sure these members’ lunches will be part of our diary of events for 2023. We will look forward to seeing everyone again then.

7th Annual IBF Residential Real Estate Seminar

The 7th Annual IBF Residential Real Estate Seminar took place on Wednesday, 12th October, 2022 in the offices of KPMG, as usual.

More than 30 IBF members and friends turned out to listen to our panel of experts discussing whether the residential real estate sector in the Czech Republic is really going to continue to boom or is it, finally, on the verge of busting.  Unsurprisingly, the overall tone of the presentations and Q&A discussion was fairly bleak, especially in regard to the sale of residential property in view of the ongoing energy crisis and the resulting cost of borrowing.   But it was not all gloom and doom since not only are many developers finding ways of supporting potential buyers through reduced interest rate financing and other benefits, but the rental market is now becoming extremely strong and is becoming the focus for many existing and new developers and investors. 

Huge thanks go to our speakers for their great presentations and for staying the whole morning to take part in a really interesting Q&A session at the end:

Pavel Kliment, Partner at KPMG
Peter Visnovsky, Director, Lexxus
Jan Adamek, Managing Director, Jan reality                          
Diana James, Business Development Manager at Daramis
Lars Klett – Managing Partner, UEPA

Also to KPMG for hosting us again, and our board member, Ian Bryan, for moderating.  We are looking forward to seeing what we will be discussing next year!

IBF Members’ Lunch

Monday, 5th September, 2022

On Monday, 5th September, the IBF hosted yet another of its popular Member
Lunches, this time in the Crystal Room of our favourite Zatisi Restaurant.
18 of our members and a couple of our friends turned out for what was, as
usual, a good opportunity for all of us to talk more about the ongoing
crises that we are living through right now, as well as chat generally about
our own work and what we are all up to in these difficult times.
Interestingly, amongst stories of closures and redundancies, many of our
members are also involved in some interesting new projects, which just goes
to show how necessary it is to ‘duck and dive’ when things get tough.   Find
out more at the next Members’ Lunch, which will be announced on the website
soon.

IBF Members’ Lunch

Wednesday, 20^th July, 2022

On Wednesday, 20^th July, the IBF hosted one of its popular ‘Member Lunches’, this time in the lovely Mlynec Restaurant overlooking the Charles Bridge.   On a boiling hot day, 20 of our members and friends turned out to enjoy a glass of Prosecco at the bar and then three courses from the always delicious Mlynec kitchen.   Having originally aimed to finish at 14.00 we were all still going strong one hour later, proving that we all just love to have the opportunity to get together and chat!  For sure we will be hosting another of these lunches before the year is out.

The Annual IBF Real Estate and Business Barbeque

Thursday, 23rd June, 2022

Find out all about the 2022 event HERE

IBF Speaker Lunch with General Andor Sandor

Thursday, 24th March, 2022

The second IBF speaker lunch of the year took place on Thursday, 24^th March, again in the wonderful Zatisi Restaurant owned by our Partner, Zatisi Catering.  Twenty IBF members and friends turned out to listen to our guest, General Andor Sandor, and whilst we all managed to take short breaks in order to enjoy the wonderful food, the discussion was full-on throughout the lunch.  General Sandor gave a fascinating insight into the background of the current situation in the Ukraine, as well as what the potential outcome might be, plus a lot of other related issues.   In addition to the discussions around the table and between the General and our guests, we were treated to Sanjiv Suri, the owner of the restaurant, joining us halfway through and giving a fascinating perspective as to where India sits in relation to the ongoing crisis.  

If we hadn’t asked everyone to leave at 3.00 pm, there was a good chance that the event could have rumbled on well into the evening, and for sure we will be inviting General Sandor back again soon!

IBF Speaker Lunch with Dr. Martin Stransky

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

On Thursday, 17th February, 2022, we held our second event of the year, this time a lunch with a speaker, and we were absolutely delighted to be able to welcome Dr Martin Stransky to come and join us.  Before the starter was even served, the group of IBF members and a couple of guests engaged Dr Stransky in a very lively discussion, covering everything from Covid in the Czech Republic viz-a-viz elsewhere, the effect of social media on our brains, and the giant steps that neurology has taken over the past few years, to growing wine and Grappa in the countryside, and the political situation here and in the Ukraine.   To quote one of the guests, ‘it is lunches like this that make being a member of the IBF worthwhile; I got my annual fee’s money back in this lunch alone!’

IBF New Year’s Lunch

JANUARY 19, 2022 |

The first IBF event of 2022 was the annual IBF New Year’s Lunch, which we were very happy to go ahead with, bearing in mind that in 2021 the event had to be cancelled due to the Covid Pandemic.

The lunch was held in our Partner, Zatisi Group’s, lovely Zatisi Restaurant at Liliová 1, Prague 1, on Wednesday, 19th January, 2022, and even though we had several cancellations the night before and on the morning itself, we still had a nice group of people around the table.  Not only did we enjoy the usual great food, but also a lively discussion on a number of topics (and very little mention of Covid, for a change!).

We plan a number of these informal lunches during the course of 2022. Watch this space.