Analysis
Corporate Research & Development Report 2022
Central Europe
Deloitte’s ongoing focus on research and development (R&D) is what has inspired us to carry out this survey – our first research project of this kind since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020. As in previous years, the survey’s key aim is to map the attitudes of companies in Central Europe to investing in R&D. It also enables us to understand the difficulties companies face relating to R&D, how they protect their know-how and Intellectual Property (IP), and what kinds of government support they use the most.
Our survey shows that while R&D expenditure is still much lower than the EU average in most Central European countries, some results are encouraging. Rather than decrease it, most companies in the region are planning to maintain or even increase their R&D spend – not just in the short term, but also over the next three to five years.
Csaba Márkus, Partner - Tax and Legal
Key Findings
In total, two-thirds of respondents are planning to invest the same amount in their R&D activities in each of the next two years as they did in each of the last three years. Only 25% of the companies surveyed are planning to increase their R&D investments.
The principal drivers that are motivating companies to invest more in R&D are the availability of skilled and experienced researchers (38%) and the potential for using a greater volume of grant/tax allowance (26%) to have a cost advantage over other countries.
Most companies (65%) are collaborating with third parties, such as universities and research institutes, which is proving beneficial for all parties.
The highest proportion of companies protect their know-how and intellectual property by using a company confidentiality policy (70%), followed by trademarks (43%) and patents and utility designs (40%).
Innovation is a fundamental means of raising productivity, and it is empowered by R&D spending. It is no coincidence that successful economies such as South Korea, Japan, the USA, Germany and the Scandinavian countries are also the leaders when it comes to investing in R&D.
Download the previous edition
Central European Corporate R&D Report 2018
Central European Corporate R&D Report 2016
Markus Csaba
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