Foreigners in Slovakia, page 43
News and features on living in Slovakia
VW SK wins Lean & Green award
THE BRATISLAVA-based plant of German carmaker Volkswagen Slovakia (VW SK) has won the Lean & Green Efficiency Award, becoming the “leanest and greenest” car company in Europe, the company wrote in its press release.
Free website for learning German
EIGHT organisations from six European countries have joined up to launch a website for learning German, supported financially by the European Commission. The website, www.deutsch.info, will enable people who speak several different European languages, including Slovak, to learn German. It will be launched as of the beginning of 2013, the TASR newswire reported in July.
Future generations need German
AXEL Hartmann sees a demand for German language education in Slovakia. However, the German ambassador to Slovakia is concerned about the impact the legislative change that made English language mandatory for elementary school children here might have on the ability of the next generation to speak German over the long-term. He notes that small and medium-sized companies operating in Slovakia will always need people who speak at least some German. Ambassador Hartmann, however, sees a positive new trend of German companies in Slovakia investing in research and development facilities here, which he says will increase the competitiveness of the Slovak economy.
Behrens synagogue reconstructed
THE SYNAGOGUE in Žilina designed by prominent German architect Peter Behrens is being reconstructed and repurposed. The local Truc Sphérique civic association is turning it into an art gallery in a project that has already attracted attention from abroad.
Germany: General facts
Political system: federal parliamentary republicCapital: BerlinTotal area: 357,000 square kilometresPopulation: 81.3 millionOfficial language: GermanCurrency: euro
US institutions in Slovakia
US Embassy to SlovakiaAmbassador: Theodore Sedgwickslovakia.usembassy.gov
Tim Weiner
Tim Weiner has won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for his reporting and writing on the dilemmas of running secret intelligence services in a democracy. A reporter for The New York Times from 1993 to 2009, he has worked in 18 countries as a foreign correspondent, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Cuba, and Haiti. For a decade, he covered the Central Intelligence Agency as a national security correspondent based in Washington, DC.
U. S. Steel opens office in Milan
STEELMAKER U. S. Steel is expanding its network of sales offices in Europe. In September U. S. Steel Europe opened a sales office in Milan, Italy. The new sales office will work to identify additional sales opportunities and expand the firm’s commercial presence in Italy, U. S. Steel Košice (USSK) announced in a press release released on September 25.
New Slovak consulate opens in US
SLOVAK President Ivan Gašparovič opened an honorary consulate in the town of Naperville close to Chicago on May 23. The Naperville mayor George Pradel, then Slovak ambassador to US Peter Burian and Slovak Foreign Affair Minister Miroslav Lajčák attended the ceremony. The minister appointed Rosemary Macko Wisnosky, a US businesswoman with Slovak roots, as the honorary consul, the SITA newswire reported.
IBM expands eastward
US IT corporation IBM launched a large recruitment campaign earlier this year, but it is no longer relegating its search for new employees to Bratislava, but expanding it to Košice. The company plans to transfer to Košice activities with higher added value and to employ people especially for higher paid positions, like consultants and specialists, the Hospodárske Noviny business daily wrote in early September.
Honeywell launches trial production
THE US company Honeywell launched trial production in its new factory in the IPZ Prešov-Záborské industrial park in eastern Slovakia in August. The plant manufactures turbochargers for passenger cars and trucks. In August about 100 people worked at the plant, the Prešov edition of the Korzár daily wrote.
USA: General facts
Political system: federal republicCapital: Washington, DCTotal area: 9,826,675 square kilometresPopulation: 314 millionOfficial languages: English (Hawaiian is also an officiallanguage in the state of Hawaii) Currency: US dollar
The important role of activism – and women
THEODORE Sedgwick believes that encouraging women to develop entrepreneurial pursuits, and giving them the opportunity to do so, would lift the economy of any country. “If you tap this untapped resource, it would be incredibly valuable for the economy of Slovakia,” adds Sedgwick, the US Ambassador to Slovakia who, along with encouraging women’s entrepreneurship, has been preoccupied with explaining different aspects of the presidential elections in his homeland for the Slovak audience, which, he says displays considerable interest in the American presidential race. The Slovak Spectator spoke to Sedgwick about the presidential campaign in the United States, the state of the judiciary in Slovakia and its impact on the business environment, as well as his ambassadorial passion for Slovakia.
US companies or companies with US investors in Slovakia
AT&T Global Network Services Slovakia, www.corp.att.comCisco Systems, www.cisco.skCitibank, www.citibank.skCBRE, www.cbre.skCoca-Cola HBC Slovenská republika, www.coca-cola.skCushman & Wakefield Property Services Slovakia, www.cushmanwakefield.comDell, www.dell.skEli Lilly Slovakia, www.lilly.comFedEx Express - Inspekta Slovakia, www.fedex.skGetrag Ford Transmissions Slovakia, www.getrag.comGoogle Slovakia, www.google.comHewlett-Packard Slovakia, www.hp.skHoneywell Turbo Technologies, www.honeywell.skIBM Slovensko, www.ibm.com/sk/skJohnson Controls, Trenčín Technology Center, www.johnsoncontrols.skLear Corporation Seating Slovakia, www.learcorp.skManpower Slovensko, www.manpower.skMicrosoft Slovakia, www.microsoft.com/sk/skOracle, www.oracle.comPfizer, www.pfizer.skSquire Sanders, www.squiresanders.comU. S. Steel Košice, www.usske.skWhite & Case, www.whitecase.com
A gateway to Europe
SLOVAKIA and the US are incomparable in terms of the size of their economies and markets. In spite of this Slovakia holds a special allure for US investors as it can serve as a gateway to Europe.“From the viewpoint of US investors Slovakia is perceived as a potential entry gate to Europe,” Ľubomíra Gabrielová, head of the marketing department at the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO), told The Slovak Spectator. “Because of this investors inquire especially about the legal framework for doing business in Slovakia and also compare Slovakia with neighbouring countries.”
Education scrutinised
WE ARE entering a new, digital age where new technologies are not only rapidly reshaping our economies, but also quickly changing our way of life, and these aspects should be taken into consideration when devising political measures to boost the economy and create jobs, Jake Slegers, the executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia (AmCham) said when addressing the challenges of shaping labour legislation.
Žilina gets inspiration from New York
HLINY, a housing estate in the west-northern town of Žilina, has been inspired by New York and will create community gardens. Žilina citizens living on Čajakova and Lichardova Streets will work to beautify the land surrounding their apartments, the SITA newswire reported in September.The idea of community gardens came from the Pontis Foundation, which drew its inspiration from a similar initiative in New York.
Spain is represented mainly by SMEs
THE INVESTMENT presence of Spanish companies in Slovakia, compared with other countries, is not very visible. There are roughly 60 Spanish companies in Slovakia, most of which are small and medium-sized firms. Nevertheless, Slovakia sees still untapped opportunities here, which was the impetus for the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO) to organise with Spanish partners a recent roadshow.
Some companies with Spanish capital in Slovakia
Altcam Slovakia,www.altcam.comArcelormittal Gonvarri SSC Slovakia,www.arcelormittalgonvarri.sk Cikautxo,www.cikautxo.es Cortizo,www.cortizo.com Elastorsa Slovakia,www.elastorsa.com ESNASA SLOVENSKO,www.esnasa.sk Fagor Ederlan Slovensko,www.fagorederlan.sk Funderías Condals,www.funcosa.es INDRA Slovakia,www.indracompany.com Jobelsa Slovensko,www.jobelsa.com NH Gate One Hotel,www.nhgateone.sk OHL Pozemné stavby,www.ohl.sk Telefónica Slovakia,www.sk.telefonica.com Vicente Torns Slovakia,www.vicentetorns.com
Companies with Portuguese capital in Slovakia
Banif Mais, branch of a foreign bank, www.bankplus.skMartifer Slovakia,www.martifer.sk
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