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SARIO at the Košice Invest 2015

On November 3, 2015, the representatives of the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO) participated at the international conference Kosice Invest 2015, in the metropolis of Eastern Slovakia. The event was organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with Forbes Slovakia. The main topics of the 7th edition of the conference were innovation and shared service centers (SSC). SARIO contributed to the event also with the participation in one of the panel discussions.

The opening speech was delivered by Richard Raši, Mayor of Kosice, followed by a series of panel discussions. The representatives of government and business discussed topics related to the current development of Eastern Slovakia and its capital Kosice, as well as the opportunities to increase competitiveness and future growth of the region.   The Slovak Investment and Trade Development agency (SARIO) was represented by Jan Rybarik, Head of Regional Offices, who introduced the main advantages of investing in Eastern Slovakia and explained the role of SARIO in attracting new investors. SARIO registers growing interest in the region of Eastern Slovakia, both through new investment as well as expansion of existing companies. The trend is also seeing increasing interest in the establishment of shared service centers (SSC) in Kosice.

Main topics of this year’s event were innovation and shared service centers (SSC).  SSC sector has become one of the key sectors in Slovakia and Kosice is becoming more and more popular location for companies that want to establish new Shared Service Center.  Panelists discussing this topic were mainly representatives of existing SSC’s in Kosice, such as AT&T, T-Systems, Holcim Business Services, who shared their experiences in Slovakia. Companies particularly appreciated the skilled workforce combined with the competitive labour costs.  The representatives of Kosice academic sector contributed to the topic by explaining how universities prepare students to the needs of labour market.

In addition to the official programme, participants could also visit SARIO exhibition space where they could find information about Slovak business environment and investment opportunities not only in the SSC sector. This event has created a unique platform for discussion of representatives of companies and state institutions about the possibilities for further development of eastern Slovakia and consequently raised awareness about the business opportunities in the region.