One Swiss company active in Slovakia is the technology company ABB. (source: TASR)
For Slovaks, Switzerland is a country full of beautiful mountains and valleys, big salaries, scientific discoveries, economic efficiency and excessively high prices. Although the mutual trade partnership is not essential, relations between them continue to improve.
Trade between Slovakia and Switzerland has a positive trend, while mutual turnover has doubled since 2011. By now, the Slovak trade balance with Switzerland is similar to the Czech Republic, according to Slovak Ambassador to Switzerland Andrea Elscheková-Matisová. Hungary has about a 3.5 times less positive balance with Switzerland, and Poland even shows a negative balance.
“Austria, as a neighbouring country, with which Switzerland shares traditional trade ties and the German language, has a positive trade balance that is only 2.8 times higher than Slovakia,” Andrea Elscheková-Matisová told The Slovak Spectator.
In terms of investment, Switzerland is in the group of twenty essential investors in Slovakia. However, the opposite relationship is minimal.
Mutual trade grows
The latest statistics show that in 2017, Slovakia exported €1.19 billion and imported €573 million from Switzerland, which led to a positive balance of €621.8 million. Between January and October 2018, Switzerland’s share of Slovak imports amounted to €56.4 million, or 0.74 percent of total imports, and exports to €1.02 billion, or 1.54 percent. This means Switzerland is Slovakia’s 11th most important trading partner, said Maroš Stano, spokesman of the Economy Ministry.
Firms mainly export to Switzerland machinery and mechanical tools, electrical equipment, vehicles and transport equipment, and plastic and metal products. Conversely, import commodities include chemical and pharmaceutical products, which traditionally account for 40 percent of Swiss imports, machinery and mechanical tools, vehicles and transport equipment.
