AmCham Slovakia

September 18, 2020 - AmCham met with Veronika Remišová, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Investments, Regional Development and Informatization and her team. Discussion focused on rule of law, innovation and regional development as all of these areas are shared priorities of both AmCham and the Ministry.

AmCham President Gabriel Galgoci also briefly presented its Vision 2030+ and expressed AmCham´s willingness to actively participate in the upcoming discussion about the priority areas for the new EU fund period 2021-27.

On the picture (from left to right): Petra Zappe, AmCham Senior Policy Manager; Michal Krcmery, AmCham Director of Government Affairs & Spokesman; Michaela Benedigova, AmCham Vice-president; Veronika Remišová, Deputy Prime Minister; Gabriel Galgóci, AmCham President; Martin Maštalír, AmCham Vice-president; and Ronald Blaško, AmCham Executive Director

If Slovakia wants to successfully and effectively use European Union money to transform the economy with a view to long-term sustainable growth and higher quality of life for future generations, the Slovak government must clearly define a long-term vision for the next decade, which is a society-wide consensus.

Sixteen experts in the field of science, macroeconomics, and business, invited to an independent expert working group initiated by the American Chamber of Commerce in the Slovak Republic, created a preliminary draft of Slovakia's Vision 2030 and outlined the key engines of long-term sustainable economic growth. The presented document is the initial consensus of the signatories on how to make the most of the potential of our country in the context of global megatrends in order to increase the quality of life of the current generation but also future ones. The signatories addressed it to the President of the Slovak Republic Zuzana Čaputová, the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic Igor Matovič, and the Minister of Finance of the Slovak Republic Eduard Heger.

The signatories have defined three main transformation engines of growth, elaborated in more detailed points, which have the ambition to get Slovakia among the Top 20 most competitive countries in the world:

• EDUCATION - In 2030, Slovakia becomes an exporter of education, a country that educates and retains Slovak talents and attracts talents from Europe and the world
• BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT - In 2030, Slovakia has at least a third of its GDP from other sources with high added value than in 2020
• LIFE - Slovakia is a global magnet for its quality of life and is steadily at the forefront of this indicator

The initiative was also supported by the Association of Employers' Unions and Associations of the Slovak Republic (AZZZ SR), Klub 500, Podnikateľská aliancia Slovenska (PAS), Republiková únia zamestnávateľov (RUZ), The British Chamber of Commerce in the Slovak Republic, The Netherlands Chamber of Commerce in the Slovak Republic, Slovak - Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia, Italian - Slovak Chamber of Commerce.


DOCUMENTS:

• Slovensko 2030 – Krajina TOP 20 (vision)
• Press Release – vízia pre Slovensko 2030

On 22nd June, AmCham’s President Gabriel Galgóci, Executive Director Ronald Blaško, Policy officer Marek Hrubčo, and Member of the Board, Peter Fischer, met with Vladimír Ledecký, soon-to-be State Secretary of the Ministry of Regional Development. We have discussed a number of challenges faced by the new ministry and agreed on the need to take a new coordinated and holistic approach to regional development. At AmCham, we are ready to help the new Ministry to tackle those challenges through knowledge and expertise of our members, which can be put to work in order to enhance regional growth.
AmCham representatives have appreciated Mr Ledecký’s strong leadership in concentrating all regional development-related government programs under one roof – something, which is about to materialize in the establishment of the new Ministry.
We are pleased to have found a strong partner at the level of central government, and we will be happy to work to together with the new Ministry and all the regional stakeholders to make our regions more competitive.

On June 2, AmCham representatives met with Minister Branislav Gröhling to discuss common areas of interest and present opportunities for cooperation with the Ministry of Education. Following the introduction by AmCham president Gabriel Galgóci on the four main pillars of AmCham advocacy activities ensuring Slovakia´s future competitiveness, minister Gröhling agreed with AmCham leaders on the necessity to establish an even stronger bond between educational institutions and private businesses employing hundreds of thousands people in Slovakia. AmCham underlined its support for efficient digitalization of education and soft skills to play a significant role in education reform. A specific cooperation in regional development is also on the list of next steps to be determined.

On June 1, AmCham representatives met with Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Finance Eduard Heger, State Secretary Marcel Klimek, Value for Money Department Director Stefan Kišš and General Director of Tax & Customs Department Daniela Klučková to discuss potential areas for cooperation. AmCham President G. Galgoci presented four main pillars of AmCham advocacy activities (rule of law, human capital, innovations and regional development) which should lead to our ultimate goal – ensuring Slovakia´s competitiveness. Minister Heger together with AmCham leaders agreed on the need of more transparent and predictable legislative process as well as the need for transformation of the Slovak economy to a knowledge-based economy and support for innovation and R&D. AmCham also supported stronger mandate for value for money principle in public policies. More specific cooperation, especially in the area of tax policy, is expected to follow soon.