SARIO mission of Japanese companies to Slovakia

The maturity of the Slovak investment environment for Japanese companies
 
The Slovak Trade Development Agency (SARIO) in cooperation with the Japanese External Trade Organization (JETRO) organized
on October 21-23,  2019 business mission of Japanese companies to the Slovak Republic. The mission was under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry of Japan and put together the CEOs of Japanese companies operating in the automotive, aerospace, electrical and banking sectors.
 
The aim of the mission was to point out the innovative maturity and investment potential of Slovakia. The start of the roadshow took place in Košice, where Rastislav Trnka, President of the Košice self-governing Region (KSR) welcomed the Japanese delegation. At the beginning of the mission, the representatives of the Japanese companies had the opportunity to receive information about the Slovak business environment from Andrea Mihaličková, SARIO and the presentation about the Košice Region by Juraj Seman from (KSR).

The next day the delegation visited the company MinebeaMitsumi, which embodies the successful Japanese investment in Slovakia, as well as continues to expand. the last point of the program in Košice was to highlight the quality of education in Slovakia, which was demonstrated in detail by the Technical University in Košice and its research and development workplaces.

From Košice, the delegation moved to the Whirlpool factory in the  HighTatras region of Poprad. In recent years the plant has focused on implementing solutions supporting digital data collection and its use. Especially thanks to these initiatives the Poprad plant was selected in 2017 as one of two pilots (second Cleveland, US) in the development of Industry 4.0 pilot solutions for Whirlpool Corporation. After the presentation of the factory, the representatives of the Japanese companies had the opportunity to see the innovative workplaces and production facilities of the factory, which was helped by the modernization of one of the leading Slovak innovative companies in Žilina, company CEIT, which the delegation visited the following day. CEIT, like Technical University in Košice, pointed out that it is very important to have talent at technical and vocational schools, as the initiative of their ideas is rooted in the academic grounds of the Technical University in Žilina and their technical or logistic solutions get beyond borders of our country. 

The last stop of the roadshow was Bratislava, where Japanese companies were joined personally by the Japanese Parliamentary Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry Mr. Shuji Miyamoto. During the networking lunch, innovative Slovak companies from the Bratislava region were able to present themselves again to show the Slovak innovative potential. The day followed by another visit to the Slovak innovative company, this time the world leader in cybersecurity, company ESET. After presenting the company's activities not only in Slovakia but also around the world, including Japan, entrepreneurs had the opportunity to participate in the Slovak Matchmaking Fair Bratislava 2019 and negotiate in the form of B2B meetings with Slovak companies. 

The coming year will symbolize the 100the anniversary of mutual Slovak-Japanese setting up diplomatic relations and therefore the effort to build closer relations with Japan also in terms of business and innovations needed for the economic growth of both countries.