AmCham Slovakia

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Continual development of the business environment in Slovakia through Committees and other initiatives.


AmCham Slovakia has a powerful and direct legislative impact in Slovakia, supporting the continuous improvement of business environment in Slovakia for more than 25 years.

Farewell to a Friend and Leader: Remembering Martin Magal

We are deeply saddened and shocked by the tragic news of Martin Magal's fatal accident. Martin was a long-term member of AmCham's Board of Directors, serving as AmCham's First Vice President.

September 23, 2024

The Festival of Future

This year is AmCham Slovakia celebrating 30 years of cooperation with the business community, 30 years of important milestones, meetings, and successful projects on the common path of positive change for the development of Slovakia. These 30 years were important, but so are the years to come, and the challenges, megatrends, that await us together.

August 19, 2024

Pillars



AmCham´s mission is to improve the business environment in Slovakia and increase the country´s competitiveness. By combining our members´ focus and expertise with most crucial areas for the country we focus our advocacy efforts on the following four pillars:  

 

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Innovations #InnovativeSlovakia

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Innovations #InnovativeSlovakia

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Regions #eastinnovation

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People #skills4future

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Institutions #ruleoflaw

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News and Updates

Record growth in transport and logistics jobs: Slovakia at the top!

The most competitive sector in Slovakia is transport, logistics and automotive, with an employment outlook of 49%, 46 percentage points higher than in the previous quarter and 38 percentage points higher than in Q4 2023. Slovakia ranks second globally in terms of expectations in the transport, logistics and automotive sector, beating the sector average by 23 points.

Bird & Bird strengthens its team in Slovakia

International law firm Bird & Bird expands its Slovak team in Bratislava. As of 1 October 2024, Dušan Predný joins the firm as Counsel and Head of Real Estate.Táňa Hegedűsová also joins the team as an associate in Bird & Bird's growing real estate and corporate practices.

Engaging the private sector in climate solutions for our city: Climathon 2024

As many cities face the growing challenges of climate change, innovative solutions are needed to address the impact with urgency. Our city, Bratislava, is no exception, and this October we will host an event that will aim at solving these issues – Climathon 2024. 

We welcome new Equity Partners, Peter Ružička and Peter Bartoš

We are excited to announce that our team of equity partners has expanded with the addition of Peter Ružička and Peter Bartoš, who have accepted the offer to become equity partners after many years of dedicated service. As part of their new roles, they will also serve as proxies for the firm.

Promiseo Celebrates 15th Anniversary

Promiseo, a fully digital marketing agency, celebrated its 15th anniversary. Promiseo has been a member of AmCham since 2014 and a partner of AmCham activities for years. 

Farewell to a Friend and Leader: Remembering Martin Magal

We are deeply saddened and shocked by the tragic news of Martin Magal's fatal accident. Martin was a long-term member of AmCham's Board of Directors, serving as AmCham's First Vice President.

Farewell to a Friend and Leader: Remembering Martin Magal

We are deeply saddened and shocked by the tragic news of Martin Magal's fatal accident. Martin was a long-term member of AmCham's Board of Directors, serving as AmCham's First Vice President.

The Festival of Future

This year is AmCham Slovakia celebrating 30 years of cooperation with the business community, 30 years of important milestones, meetings, and successful projects on the common path of positive change for the development of Slovakia. These 30 years were important, but so are the years to come, and the challenges, megatrends, that await us together.

Excited to share highlights from our recent cybersecurity conference in Brussels!

The event brought together experts from across Europe to discuss pressing cybersecurity challenges and strategies for improvement. 

10th Annual Richard Dewitt Arbitration Conference 2024

The 10th Annual Richard Dewitt Arbitration Conference 2024 was held yesterday in the amphitheater of the Law Faculty at Comenius University in Bratislava. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to the Law Faculty of Comenius University for collaborating with us to organize this event. 

Meeting with State Secretary Milan Hodas and Director-General Michal Kotlarik on Key Legal Issues

Today we had the opportunity to meet with Milan Hodas, State Secretary at the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic, and Michal Kotlarik, Director-General of the International Law Department of the Ministry of Justice. AmCham Slovakia was represented by its President Martin Maštalír, First Vice-President Martin Magal, and Policy Officer Zuzana Serinová.

The Festival of Future - Topical Focus Events

 


       

Record growth in transport and logistics jobs: Slovakia at the top!

The most competitive sector in Slovakia is transport, logistics and automotive, with an employment outlook of 49%, 46 percentage points higher than in the previous quarter and 38 percentage points higher than in Q4 2023. Slovakia ranks second globally in terms of expectations in the transport, logistics and automotive sector, beating the sector average by 23 points.

Bird & Bird strengthens its team in Slovakia

International law firm Bird & Bird expands its Slovak team in Bratislava. As of 1 October 2024, Dušan Predný joins the firm as Counsel and Head of Real Estate.Táňa Hegedűsová also joins the team as an associate in Bird & Bird's growing real estate and corporate practices.

Engaging the private sector in climate solutions for our city: Climathon 2024

As many cities face the growing challenges of climate change, innovative solutions are needed to address the impact with urgency. Our city, Bratislava, is no exception, and this October we will host an event that will aim at solving these issues – Climathon 2024. 

We welcome new Equity Partners, Peter Ružička and Peter Bartoš

We are excited to announce that our team of equity partners has expanded with the addition of Peter Ružička and Peter Bartoš, who have accepted the offer to become equity partners after many years of dedicated service. As part of their new roles, they will also serve as proxies for the firm.

Promiseo Celebrates 15th Anniversary

Promiseo, a fully digital marketing agency, celebrated its 15th anniversary. Promiseo has been a member of AmCham since 2014 and a partner of AmCham activities for years. 

Join the initiative for equal pay! Be part of Equal Pay Day 2024

What is Equal Pay Day? Equal Pay Day (EPD) is a symbolic day that draws attention to the differences in pay between men and women.

August 23, 2023

Legislative & Policy Update - August 2023

Format: pdf, size: 0.35 MB

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June 20, 2023

Legislative & Policy Update - June 2023

Format: pdf, size: 0.62 MB

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May 18, 2023

Legislative & Policy Update - May 2023

Format: pdf, size: 0.62 MB

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April 19, 2023

Legislative & Policy Update - April 2023

Format: pdf, size: 0.59 MB

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March 15, 2023

Legislative & Policy Update - March 2023

Format: pdf, size: 0.35 MB

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February 23, 2023

Legislative & Policy Update - February 2023

Format: pdf, size: 0.59 MB

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Policy process

Work in Committees and Task Forces
Voluntary participation, no entitlement for compensation.Voluntary participation, no entitlement for compensation.
 
Chairperson – elected by members of the Committee, approved by the Board
Vice Chair – assists with coordination, in the absence of the Chair takes over the leadership

  • Meetings – should be on a regular basis, preferably once a month
  • Agenda – prepared by C. Coordinator 5 working days in advance
  • Minutes – Actions and Decisions – sent to C. members within 7 working days after the meeting
Preparation of Advocacy Plans and Lobbying Strategies
Every advocacy/lobbying initiative should be accompanied by an Advocacy Plan, available at the members only website area, containing:

  • Lobbying Tool – Position Papers, Policy Briefs, Press Releases
  • Target Audience – Government, Parliament, Stakeholders
  • Timeframe – adapted to the AmCham rules and procedures, legislative process or other processes of concern
  • Possible Coalitions – Foreign Chambers of Commerce in SR, business alliances, organizations or federations
  • Leadership and Issue – Ownership - Chairs, Vice-Chairs, Spokespersons
Approval of Position Papers and Position Letters
Standard approval procedure

  • First stage - pre-draft of a Position Statement, written by a member or committee coordinator is circulated among AmCham members that have expressed interest in the given topic. Comments to be submitted within 5 working days.
  • Second stage -  members’ suggestions incorporated and an appropriate wording of the position formulated. The second stage shall not exceed 3 working days.
  • Third (final) stage - final draft circulated among members and AmCham Board Members for their review. Conflicting requirements to be resolved by the coordinator. The final stage must not last more than 5 working days. Not responding within this timeframe is considered as an approval.
Fast-track procedure

In case an urgent Position of AmCham needs to be released – two working days. The fast-track procedure has been amended on the Board Meeting in Oct. 2007.

  • First phase (24 hours –  one working day): AmCham consults the proposed Statement (and enclosed Advocacy Plan / Lobbying Strategy if applicable) with Members of the Board Policy / Advocacy Standing Committee; potential comments and subsequent approval of at least three Members of the Policy Standing Committee and at least one Member of the AmCham Executive Committee are needed within a 24-hour period.  In addition, an Executive Sponsor from within the Board must be identified for each initiative.
  • Second phase (48 hours – two working days): AmCham sends the draft of the Position Statement in the version approved by the Policy Standing Committee to the full Board. This stage should not last more than two working days. Not responding within this timeframe is considered as approval. Unless a member involved in the process is not happy with the final version, the position paper can be released.

Election Process

A Committee coordinator (member of AmCham policy team) is responsible for conducting a transparent and smooth process of nominations, digital voting via email/Google sheets and announcement of the results.

 

Committee Election Process:

  1. A leadership of each committee will be voted by members of a respective committee after two calendar years.
  2. Only committee members are allowed to run for the elections and have a right to vote.
  3. Each company would have 1 vote (filling out 1 election ballot giving their preferential vote to 1 chair and 1 vice-chair).
  4. Chairs and vicechairs are allowed to run for reelection without any limit on the number of terms.
  5. The Board reserves the right to dismiss a chair and/or vicechair of a committee in case of serious breach of ethical principles and/or lack of professional competency and/ or capacity to lead the committee.

Testimonials

The Business Academic Committee is one of the most active groups at Amcham and our members have contributed many ideas that have turned into actions and concrete results with a very high success rate. We have a constant dialogue with the Ministry of Education and influence decisions that have an effect on all Amcham members. We provide forums where the best and brightest students from our Universities can find their match in the Business world. We bring Deans and Professors in the same room with CEOs to exchange ideas and foster communication. We have success stories that speak for themselves: students turned into interns, interns turned into new hires and on their path to be our future leaders.

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Martin Kardoš, CSI Leasing