According to Economy Minister Lubomír Jahnátek, the Government will connect Bratislava and Košice with a highway by 2010, by using Sk70 billion (€2.12 billion) from the state budget. This means that 165 kilometres of new highway stretches, and 80 kilometres of new motorways will have to be built, the Minister said on February 21 at an HNClub discussion forum in Košice focused on furthering economic growth in Eastern Slovakia, the TASR wrote.
Jahnátek said that this is not the only example of state support for this part of the country, which has long been affected by high unemployment, and, in Prešov region’s case, by having a mere 4-percent of the country's industrial production and about 12 percent of the population.
According to Jahnátek, the Government has three main goals for the Košice and Prešov regions. A priority for regional development is the new innovation strategy, and an ambition to develop tourism in this area, where there are great conditions, according to the minister. Also in attendance, the US ambassador to Slovakia Vincent Obsitnik showed his appreciation for the existing contribution of American investors, mainly U.S. Steel and Whirlpool, in the development of this part of Slovakia.
Obsitnik hinted that a new wave of American investors was ready to enter Slovakia, and they were already discussing possibilities with the Slovak Agency for Development of Investments and Trade (SARIO). TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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