POHO Industrial Park

Orlová is a town in the Karviná district in the Moravian-Silesian Region in the Czech Republic, located about 16 km east of Ostrava, the capital of the region.

Originally a small agricultural village, it gradually developed into a modern and wealthy town thanks to the discovery of black coal and the industrial revolution. The main industry was mining, but it was not the only one. However, the negative effects of the mining activity have manifested themselves in such a way that most of the original historic town and other parts have disappeared due to undermining. Social and commercial life moved to the residential part of the town, which gradually replaced the old town centre. Only a torso of the historic core has survived, but it has been visibly revitalised in recent years.

The 1990s marked a significant turning point for Orlova. The one-sided industrial orientation and employment structure of the town, which had been directed towards mining in the past, changed. The decline of coal mining led to job losses and higher unemployment rates, which still persist. The city and the regional administration are trying to gradually restructure the economy and attract new investors to existing or upcoming industrial zones. Due to its location close to the regional capital Ostrava and Poland and its technically educated human resources, Orlová has the potential to be attractive for e.g. logistics and light industry.

Orlová is situated on the main 1st class roads I/67 and I/59. The regional transport project of the new Ostrava-Orlová-Karviná tramway line will have a major impact on the development not only of the town but also of the whole Karviná region. It will be a new modern double-track high-speed railway, which will be able to run at speeds of up to 80 kilometres outside the built-up area. Thanks to the speed of transport, this connection will create an alternative to car transport and will thus enable the cities to be connected efficiently and relatively quickly. This will certainly be a positive motivating factor, not only for the workforce when travelling to work. The line should be over 26 kilometres long and the first passengers could travel from Ostrava to Karviná by tram in ten years.