PRESIDENT Andrej Kiska continued in his trip to the United States with a visit to San Diego and San Francisco on September 29 and 30.
In San Diego the president attended the opening of a new business incubator called the Slovak American Innovation Center, which is supposed to help entrepreneurs from Slovakia to set up shop in the United States.
“There are many talented and clever people in Slovakia, but people sometimes need assistance with premises and ideas at the beginning,” Kiska said, as quoted by TASR. “So, if you have somebody [to rely on] in a country such as the USA, it is amazing, as this is a huge market providing vast opportunities.”
The centre was set up by Slovak IT security company Eset. It should provide assistance and support to five-six companies at a time, according to their business potential.
According to Kiska, Eset, which enjoys a worldwide presence and has its US base in San Diego, serves as evidence that Slovakia has many talented people and great potential for developing industries such as information technology.
Eset’s business incubator for Slovak entrepreneurs is the first such facility established outside Slovakia, highlighted Ivan Štefunko from Slovak venture capital fund Neulogy Ventures, which supports start-ups.
“I suppose that the success of a company such as Eset may help other firms that will venture off to [San Diego],” Štefunko said, as quoted by TASR, adding that the Californian city has a strong tradition of endorsing technology- and biotechnology-oriented start-ups.
During his trip to San Diego, Kiska also faced some troubles when he was trapped in an elevator for more than an hour and when on the other day two police motorcycle officers accompanying Kiska’s motorcade had a collision, TASR reported.
The trip continued on September 30 in San Francisco. He visited the prestigious nearby Stanford University where he learned about current trend in education and connecting the university education with practice. The president stressed the Slovak education sector needs reform.
“At Stanford we were talking about how to connect the universities with practice,” Kiska said, as quoted by TASR. “We were also talking about possibilities of e-learning and its potential use for our students who want to be really good in their professions.”
Kiska also met with representatives of US company GlobalLogic, which plans to extend its activities in Slovakia. The president’s trip ends on October 1 with the visit to Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park near San Francisco. Kiska returns to Slovakia on October 2.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
