The President of Slovakia, Ivan Gasparovic, is leading a trade delegation to Spain
Tourism and infrastructure are two of the sectors that offer the best business opportunities for Spanish companies that want to invest in Slovakia, along with the automotive industry, which is already more developed.
This is the message that the Slovak authorities, headed by the President of the Republic, Ivan Gasparovic, offered to Spanish businessmen and authorities at a business meeting organized by the Chambers of Commerce, the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX) and the employers' association CEOE.
During his speech, the President of Slovakia pointed out that the levels of Spanish investment in the Central European country are low.
Thus, in 2006 Spanish companies invested 56 million euros, but the prospects for economic and commercial collaboration "are good," said the president, who added that his government expects "satisfactory results as soon as possible."
The Secretary General for Foreign Trade of the State Secretariat for Tourism and Trade, Alfredo Bonet, also pointed out the construction sector as a business opportunity for Spanish construction companies due to the growing demand for housing construction.
Furthermore, Bonet expressed his conviction that investment in Slovakia could be a platform for accessing the Eastern European market.
Among the advantages that Slovak authorities highlighted for foreign investment are the country's strong performance, with its economy growing at nine percent; the decrease in inflation, which is around two percent; and the unemployment rate, which has fallen in the last five years from twenty to the current eight percent.
Furthermore, the country, which expects to join the euro zone from January 2009, offers a highly skilled workforce and a tax system that sets Corporate Income Tax, Personal Income Tax (IRPF) and VAT at nineteen percent.
The Slovak government hopes to boost the infrastructure sector, particularly with the northern motorway project, which it hopes to build before 2010, and later, in 2012, the southern motorway, roads that will link the country from east to west.
The focus on the tourism sector is mainly on the thermal waters of Slovakia, the second richest country after Iceland, which they hope to develop in spas and water treatment hotels.
"Slovakia has everything but the sea," noted Peter Pison, First Secretary of the Slovak Embassy in Spain, explaining that their strategy is focused on rural, winter, and water treatment tourism.
The automotive and consumer electronics industries are the most competitive in the country and offer the greatest development opportunities. The opening of factories by the automotive companies Kia, Peugeot and Volkswagen, and the upcoming opening of a Samsung factory, opens up the possibility of doing business in the area of product sales.
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