Economy Minister Peter Žiga (source: TASR)
Slovakia saw a record number of new job creation last year, posting the best results in the past five years. Moreover, it appears that its stable and predictable business environment and legislation make Slovakia an attractive country for foreign investors, said Economy Minister Peter Žiga (Smer).
“Based on available data at the ministry and at the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency, we drew in 29 [investment] projects worth €930 million to Slovakia in 2016, which created 7,500 jobs,” said Žiga, as quoted by TASR.
It is no longer the case that Slovakia is an “assembly hall”, given the character of the investments.
“They also involve investments in research and development,” Žiga said, as quoted by TASR. “We’ve agreed to two research and development centres and we’ve begun to support business services centres, for which four projects have been concluded.”
The investments create opportunities for exports and are not located only in western Slovakia, but also in the central and eastern areas.
“The government is committed to supporting the least-developed regions,” the economy minister continued. “This is why we’ve adopted legislation to this effect and held 12 ‘away’ government sessions in such regions.”
The cabinet also plans to improve the business environment over the long haul, he added.
“We’d like to assess the impact of legislation adopted to small and medium-sized enterprises,” Žiga said, as quoted by TASR. “We managed to adopt a law on small and medium-sized enterprises in 2016 that should help to remove red tape and improve the business environment.”
