Location Bratislava The introduction of the boss of the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO) Robert Simoncic took place at the presence of the President of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Michael Smyth, the Executive Director of AmCham Jake Slegers and other members of the Chamber. This event was connected with the discussion on the topic: “How can Slovakia Boost its Investment Opportunities?” According to Mr Simoncic, SARIO first of all needs to define its clear position and competencies based on which it will be able to create its new strategy. In this context he also mentioned the importance of clarification and simplification of processes, for example in receiving state aid, and he also stressed the need of continuous improvement of the business environment. “Slovakia currently needs new jobs therefore their creation has to be in the focus of all our efforts“, said Rober Simoncic. The decisive factor in process of investment attraction is not the salary level but rather geographical location and the infrastructure development. „The key factor should not be the localization of the investment but rather the quality of conditions that the individual regions might offer“, said Mr. Simoncic and he added that the precondition of the success is the effective communication with the regional administration and municipalities. He also said that in his opinion the role of specialization and sector targeting, especially R&D or high value added sectors would continually grow. While attracting foreign investors it is necessary to think about domestic investors as well, since they play an important part in the development of local capital. As for the aim of FDI attraction, SARIO plans to focus as well on the needs of established investors as well. Besides the new FDI influx, SARIO aims in its strategy to focus on satisfying the needs of established investors. Since for the Slovak economy are important not only the investors that came through SARIO, but all investors; the next task of the agency will be to map all implemented investment projects in Slovakia: “It is necessary in order to flexibly react to the current investors needs and help them in their possible expansion,“ said Robert Simoncic. To achieve these new goals and finish all tasks, SARIO will need strong and responsible partners as chambers of commerce, universities, self-governing regions, municipalities, clusters etc., which will provide necessary feedback.
