Foreigners in Slovakia, page 48
News and features on living in Slovakia
Crisis prompts investors to refocus
SLOVAKIA and Italy are linked by extensive economic and commercial relations, and this network is woven from contacts between companies ranging in size from large corporations to small family businesses. Both countries have been stung by the global economic crisis, which has nonetheless brought new challenges and inspired new initiatives by potential investors.
New migration agreement signed
IN MID February Slovakia’s then interior minister Daniel Lipšic and his Austrian counterpart Johanna Mikl-Leitner sealed a new readmission agreement as part of an effort to prevent illegal immigration and ensure cooperation between the Slovak and Austrian authorities in this area, the SITA newswire reported.
Reinsurance pact to support exports
EXIMBANKA, Slovakia's state-owned export-import bank, signed a reinsurance agreement with Oesterreichische Kontrollbank Aktiengesellschaft (OeKB), Austria’s main provider of financial and information services to the export industry and the capital market.
Slovak replica of Celtic fortification
SLOVAK archaeologists last year built a wooden replica of a Celtic fortification at Braunsberg Hill above the Austrian town of Hainburg an der Donau. The attraction was unveiled in early July last year. The archaeologists installed the model into depressions that still remain where the original fortifications stood 2,000 years ago, the SITA newswire reported.
Austrian institutions in Slovakia
Austrian EmbassyAmbassador: Josef-Markus Wuketich- The Austrian Embassy is moving from Ventúrska 10 to Hodžovo square 1A (Astoria Palace)www.rakusko.eu
Austrian capital keeps flowing to Slovakia
AUSTRIA remains one of the primary economic partners of Slovakia, with intensive bilateral trade and both countries benefiting from a strong west-to-east flow of capital. Despite the already-strong relationship, some commercial possibilities have still to be fully tapped, experts say. But they warn that although Austrian investors continue to regard Slovakia as an advantageous investment destination, developments in the European Union and Slovakia’s recent change in government have both raised concerns.
New bridge links Slovakia and Austria
HISTORY is already heaped high at this site. The light steel structure of a new bridge joining Austria with Slovakia now arches over the remains of a bridge from the era of Empress Maria Theresa. At its base is an intact bunker from the inter-war period and the construction site is partly hemmed in by the remains of the Iron Curtain. But its barbed wires today serve only to support a sign warning that this is the construction site of a cycling bridge connecting Slovakia’s Devínska Nová Ves and Austria’s Schloss Hof.
Slovak-Austrian ties benefit small firms too
THE PRESENCE of Austrian businesses in Slovakia is evident not only through their involvement in banking, insurance or construction, but also through smaller initiatives such as the Austrian farmer who delivers fresh milk to schools in Bratislava, or an Austrian bakery that is now opening a branch in Bratislava. These are just a few facets of the links between the two nations, which have traditionally been strong. For example, the German language has always been spoken in Slovakia and is to a certain extent part of its cultural tradition, said Josef-Markus Wuketich, the Austrian Ambassador to Slovakia .
Austria: General facts
Political system: federal parliamentary republicCapital: ViennaTotal area: 83,855 square kilometresPopulation: about 8.3 millionOfficial language: GermanCurrency: euro
Brazil and Slovakia seek ways to grow together
EVEN though Brazil and Slovakia differ in size and are separated by a wide ocean, economic cooperation between the two countries is not as scanty as one might think. Both countries, each with strong automotive industries, want to move their economies forward with new enterprises that have higher added value and this can be an opportunity for more economic cooperation. Currently, bilateral trade is the primary economic tie between the countries but four companies with Brazilian capital also operate manufacturing facilities in Slovakia.
Brazil's ambassador describes its ascent
MARÍLIA Sardenberg Zelner Gonçalves remembers the times as a diplomat in her country’s Foreign Affairs Ministry when she was fearful of talking to journalists because she would have risked losing her job. That was in the 1970s, when Brazil was in the grip of a dictatorship. But now, more than 20 years later, Zelner Gonçalves, the Brazilian Ambassador to Slovakia, speaks freely and very optimistically about her homeland – explaining that Brazil, often described in the past as a “sleeping giant in a cradle”, has now become an important player in the global economy and a strong partner among democratic nations.
Capoeira spreads in Slovakia
ONE EXPRESSION of the mixture of cultures in Brazil is capoeira, a mixture of music, dance and martial arts. With roots in the African elements of Brazilian culture, it has been growing in popularity not only in Brazil but more recently in Slovakia too.
Did you know?
- Brazil is the world's fifth biggest country. It covers an area much larger than Western Europe and is slightly bigger than the United States excluding Alaska.
Organisations and institutions of Brazil in Slovakia
Embassy of the Federative Republic of BrazilAmbassador: Marília Sardenberg Zelner Gonçalves bratislava.itamaraty.gov.br/pt-br
Opening doors between two diverse countries
CULTURE can be the best, or easiest, way to bring together two nations, however distant and different they might be. The question is where it is best to start. “We have been opening windows and doors since we came here in 2008,” Luiz Francisco Pandia Braconnot, minister-counsellor of the Brazilian Embassy, told the Slovak Spectator. Edna Ferreira de Souza from the embassy’s cultural section added: “I have come to think that culture and cultural exchange starts with children because they are open, have open minds, and perceive things differently from adults. That is why we try to address children specifically.”
Little pieces of Slovakia in Brazil
AT FIRST glance, it might appear that Brazilians could know little about Slovakia and could confuse it with Slovenia. But if you look closer there are more signs of Slovakia’s presence in this South-American country than you might think.
Bratislava gets Brazilian sculpture
THE PETRŽALKA Catholic Church of Our Lady of Sorrows (the patron saint of Slovakia) was due to receive a special arrival from Brazil on January 20, just after this issue of The Slovak Spectator went to print. At a special mass held in this modern church a sculpture of Our Lady of Aparecida, the patron saint of Brazil, is being enthroned after having travelled all the way from Brazil. The ceremony will be overseen by the archbishop of Bratislava, Stanislav Zvolenský, and by the cardinal archbishop of Aparecida and president of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, Raymundo Damasceno Assis. Monsignor Mario Giordana, the apostolic nuncio to Bratislava, also planned to participate. The image is being brought to the church at the initiative of Brazilian Ambassador to Slovakia, Marilia Sardenberg Zelner Gonçalves.
Brazilian-owned companies or companies with Brazilian investors
Embraco Slovakia, Spišská Nová Ves, www.embraco.skCRW Plásticos Slovakia, Spišská Nová Ves, www.grupocrw.com.brMicro Juntas SK, Spišská Nová Ves, http://microjuntas.sk (under preparation)Rudolph Usinados SK, Spišská Nová Ves, www.rudolph.com.br
Embraco grows in Spisšká Nová Ves
EMBRACO Slovakia, the largest employer in the Spiš region, launched production of a more efficient compressor model in its plant in Spišská Nová Ves last June. The SITA newswire wrote at that time that the company’s investment in the new production line totalled €13.5 million and that the Slovak government provided investment stimuli worth €6.9 million. These included a €1.5 million subsidy for creating the new work positions, €2.3 million in tax relief between 2012 and 2014 and a €2.7 million subsidy to procure production assets. Embraco Slovakia is part of what is now a global corporation that was founded in 1974 in Joinville, Brazil.
Brazil: General facts
Political system: federal republicCapital: BrasíliaTotal area: 8,511,965 square kilometresPopulation: 192 millionOfficial language: PortugueseCurrency: real
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