Foreigners in Slovakia, page 49
News and features on living in Slovakia
Johns Manville expands in Trnava
JOHNS Manville, a US-based manufacturer of glass fibre products, announced plans in mid July to expand fibre production capacities at its facility in Trnava in western Slovakia. Johns Manville (JM) first invested in Europe in 2004 and its announcement of the production expansion plan in Slovakia shows its commitment to the European composites business, the company wrote on its website.
Needed: a long-term strategy for education
THE DEVELOPMENT of a long-term strategy for enhancing Slovakia’s competitiveness and a strategy for educational reform are areas where Jake Slegers, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Slovak Republic, or AmCham, sees a major role for his organisation. Slegers, an American who has lived in Slovakia for most of the last 17 years, notes that there is a dangerous disconnect whereby the Slovak education system produces well-educated graduates, but not of the type that industry is seeking. The Slovak Spectator spoke to Slegers about the quality of the business environment, reform of labour legislation, and the path taken by AmCham over the past decade.
Cleveland art arrives in its sister city
A PRACTICAL example of cultural exchange between the US and Slovakia is an exhibition in the residence of US Ambassador to Slovakia Theodore Sedgwick that was opened on September 27. The exhibition was born out of cooperation with three reputable Cleveland cultural institutions and the US State Department’s ART in Embassies scheme.
US institutions in Slovakia
US Embassy to Slovakia
Honeywell starts factory construction
HONEYWELL, a US-based company, has chosen eastern Slovakia for a new factory . It started construction work on the facility in early August. The plant will manufacture turbochargers for passenger cars and trucks on a five-hectare plot in the IPZ Prešov-Záborské industrial park. Honeywell will invest €38.3 million and employ nearly 450 people in the plant’s first phase, the SITA newswire wrote.
US Major General gets citizenship
SLOVAKIA appreciates its cooperation with the USA in military matters as well as cooperation based on values such as freedom and democracy, said Bratislava Mayor Milan Ftáčnik when granting honorary citizenship to Major General R. Martin Umbarger, Commander of the US National Guard in Indiana on September 26, the TASR newswire reported.
US companies or companies with US investors in Slovakia
AT&T Global Network Services Slovakia, www.corp.att.com
USA: General facts
Political system: federal republic
Steel packaging as a green solution
PACKAGING made from steel is always recyclable and is easier to transport, store and manipulate than other kinds of packaging materials. So said David J. Rintoul, president of U.S. Steel Košice at a conference called Steel Packaging – Green Solutions for Central Europe held in Košice in late September. He added that the production, use and recycling of steel packaging offers great potential for the whole Košice region in business as well as for protection of the environment.
America offers jazz – and more – in Slovakia
NO-ONE could seriously doubt the extent and influence of US culture and lifestyle on Slovaks and Slovakia: even if one were to try hard to avoid it, it would be almost impossible. The Slovak Spectator therefore posed several questions to the US cultural attaché in Slovakia, Chris Scharf, the first being: what is the role of America’s ‘ambassador of culture’ in this situation?
PM Radičová in New York City
PRIME Minister Iveta Radičová travelled to the United States in mid September for a week of official activities, including personal meetings with US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, participation in the Open Government Forum, an address to the UN General Assembly and a lecture at New York University.
'Obama and Radičová have a shared interest'
SMART and successful Slovak entrepreneurs would serve much better as positive role models for Slovaks than someone like Bill Gates: so believes Theodore Sedgwick, the ambassador of the United States of America to Slovakia, adding that young people need inspiration to be innovative and perhaps start small businesses, which are often in a better position to provide jobs than large corporations. Ambassador Sedgwick also thinks it might be a good idea for government institutions to have an office for ethics, and appreciates efforts to open up the government to greater public control.
Investments estimated at €3.3 billion
THE DAVID-and-Goliath size ratio of Slovakia and the USA, two countries which are also divided by an ocean, does not lower their appetite for business cooperation. Earlier this year Slovak Economy Minister Juraj Miškov went to the United States to remind businesspeople there of the investment opportunities in Slovakia, a country which has already become home to several successful US investment projects.
Slovak Telekom opens data centre
ONE of the biggest telecommunication companies in Slovakia that provides both fixed-line and mobile services, Slovak Telekom (ST), is not limiting its business to telephony. On June 1, it officially began operations at its new data centre in Bratislava, which involved an investment exceeding €15 million.
‘Standstill is a step backwards’
SLOVAK businesspeople as well as economic analysts are looking with slight concern at the German economy, when its growth slowed markedly during the second quarter of 2011. While the German-Slovak Chamber of Commerce suggests that it would be wrong to place too much emphasis on recent figures, fears on the Slovak side are understandable as Germany is the country’s biggest economic partner.
Germany's major role
THOSE in this region who study the German language are making a good investment in their education and their potential future employment with German companies, Axel Hartmann, Germany’s ambassador to Slovakia argues, explaining that his country invests considerable funds in German-language training in Slovakia. The German ambassador is not only a fierce advocate of studying German but also of telling the story of the fall of the Berlin Wall to the younger generation who, though they have no real-life experience of living with the artificial separation of Europe, still need to be aware of the importance of those historical changes for their lives.
Language skills build many bridges
AN OLD Slovak proverb says that the more languages you speak, the more times you are human, meaning that they make you a better person. Despite its antiquity, this saying is echoed in the modern trend for learning several foreign languages. As a recent study by the Institute for Public Affairs (IVO) found, half of all people living in Slovakia claim to speak – at least to some extent – two or more foreign languages; and only 19 percent speak none of the six most widely-spoken foreign languages.
Wanted: better command of German
THREE months after the complete opening of the German and Austrian labour markets, Slovaks continue to be very interested in working in these German-speaking countries. Job agencies report a higher number of available jobs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland than at the beginning of the year as well as an even higher number than when the German and Austrian markets opened on May 1. However, low command of the German language by many Slovaks often disqualifies them from getting the available jobs, the Sme daily wrote in late August.
Back to their roots
WATCHING a group of women precisely embroidering lacework, seeing woodcarvers creating new masterpieces, tasting traditional Slovak food, listening to songs in different dialects or enjoying the performances of folk dancers – all the while seeing everyone dressed in clothing that many young people would call way out-of-date. Once a year, Slovakia’s capital dispenses with its image as a modern city and returns back to the times before skyscrapers or aeroplanes, when people earned their living through various kinds of crafts.
Some companies with German investors in Slovakia
Allianz - Slovenská Poisťovňa,www.allianzsp.sk
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