AmCham Slovakia

Business Service Center Forum (BSCF)

AmCham is proud to announce that the 13^th season of our flagship Train the Trainer program was officially kicked-off in late January and is ending on 2 March 2023. More than 20 high school teachers, career advisers and life-long learning experts embarked on a mission to deepen cooperation between business & academia as well as to foster their own soft skills and competences. Our spring program is summitting with a tailor-made SCRUM workshop for pedagogues.

BSCF community as “industry partner” partnered yet again with the Slovak Spectator monthly on a special supplement on the topic of business centers entitled Artificial Intelligence drives Slovak business centers, with several articles about the shared services and business services operating in Slovakia. First of the article series was recently published with an interview Chatbots can take routine jobs, allowing BSC employees to do more sophisticated work where Ivan Tomko, BSCF vice-chair, talks about new technologies and their influence on the sector, new business service centers in Slovakia, and tech companies‘ layoffs with their impact in Slovakia.

Digital Committee

On 22 February, League for Digital Boost with AmCham Slovakia as one of its partners organized a discussion on Upcoming EU Regulation and their impact on businesses. Lukáš Mrázik, Vice Chair of AmCham’s Digital Committee represented AmCham as one of the panelists. They discussed key regulations including AI Act, Digital Services Act, Data Act, Digital Markets Act. Good and effective regulation is crucial for fulfilling the potential that new technology brings and introducing innovation but at the same time ensuring security and fairness. The discussion stressed the important role of business associations to educate and inform business of responsibilities but also new opportunities that regulation brings and bridging the information gap between public and private sectors.

AmCham Slovakia is continuing with a series of Digital Business Breakfast events with a discussion on Opportunities for the Digital Transformation of SMEs, which took place on 1 March. Defining digitalization in concrete terms may seem tricky, but when we look at the process through the lens of time saved, more effectively used labor and decreased costs, digitalization is a must. Our expert speakers shared best practice examples of innovative companies that successfully underwent digital transformation, discussed available funding opportunities from the public sector, existing platforms and services of European Digital Innovation Hubs. The key message of this event was the need for continuous importance of awareness raising among Small and Medium Enterprises about the opportunities that are available to them and creating platforms for networking, learning and skills development.

Regional development

On 17 February, we organized a Business Breakfast on New Construction Law for our members and partners from the public administration in Košice. The Construction Act and the Spatial Planning Act, approved almost 50 years after the adoption of the original legislation, will enter into force in April 2024. The new legislation aims to eliminate the shortcomings of the old legislation in light of the current needs of society.

It was a great opportunity to have the private and public sectors hear each other out and not only ask questions but also share their experiences and feel the perspectives from two opposite sides. Amcham Slovakia thus reaffirmed its essential role in creating a platform for bringing together all relevant stakeholders on topics that are crucial for the region. We thank our partner Východoslovenská distribučná, a.s. (Skupina VSE Holding - Východoslovenská energetika Holding a.s.) for their cooperation on this event, special thanks to Martin Hypky, head of the Office for Spatial Planning and Construction of the Slovak Republic for his active contribution on behalf of his Bureau and our excellent speakers JUDr. Tatiana Prokopova, and Lenka Vagundová for sharing their professional expertise.

Health Care Committee (HCC)

During February, the so-called Healthy Future II stream advanced to its further stage, where several discussions and coordination efforts took place including external partners from analytical organizations. Several members of the Healthcare committee provided interest to follow up on the Healthy Future I stream from 2019/2020 in order to raise awareness and provide expert insights and best market practices concerning provision of the healthcare in Slovakia and to keep open communication with relevant public sector actors.

On 27 February, AmCham provided comments of its members of the Healthcare committee to the Draft conception for the establishment of a state distribution company for the supply of medicines and medical devices within the purview of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic. Withing the comments the insufficient justification of the proposal, unprecedent intervention to good distribution practice, concerns about the effectiveness of central purchases of medicines and medical aids and unclear role of the healthcare providers as well as other stakeholders in this area has been highlighted. The next Healthcare committee meeting is planned to take place on 24 March in Jurkovičova tepláreň.

During the event Empower Women: Women in the Public Sphereon 8 March to commemorate International Women’s Day the role women play in healthcare and the unequal access to the healthcare and specifics of women health they may experience will be discussed.

Rule of Law Initiative

European Union: we contributed to the fundamental rights and the rule of law report on Slovakia
Last year, AmCham Slovakia met with the delegation of the EESC - European Economic and Social Committee to reflect and share our views on the fundamental rights and the state of the rule of law in Slovakia. We are happy to share their final report: http://bit.ly/3jzz0ua. If you are looking for something interesting to read, this important 7-page read might be it!

We met with the Government Plenipotentiary for the Development of the Civil Society

On 8 February, the Rule of Law Initiative representatives met with Filip Vagač, Government Plenipotentiary for the Development of Civil Society, and his colleagues. We discussed future cooperation, the legislative process, and the ways to improve it. We would like to thank Mr. Vagač for his readiness to cooperate with the business community and for a productive discussion.

Rule of Law: The unpredictable state tax policy is sending a negative signal to foreign investors and risks deepening the economy

On 9 February,we sent a joint letter to the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic regarding the draft amendment to Act No. 235/2012 Coll. on the special levy on business in regulated sectors, where an unsystematic up to a 3-fold increase of this levy is foreseen.We request the authorities to definitively withdraw the draft bill from the debate of the National Council or to submit it for expert discussion on the floor of the Economic and Social Council of the Government of the Slovak Republic. We thank our partners Republiková únia zamestnávateľov, Asociácia priemyselných zväzov a dopravy, Asociácia zamestnávateľských zväzov a združení, Slovenská asociácia poisťovní and Slovenská banková asociácia for the cooperation. You can find the letter here.

The new Slovak law on mergers and transformations

The new Slovak law on mergers and transformations is under review by the public and various stakeholders. On 9 February, we at AmCham Slovakia together with our members proposed 51 comments on the draft law. The proposed material in its preliminary form can be found here. We are pleased to hear that the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic accepted almost all our comments regarding this legislation.

We appreciate your feedback!
Please get back to us with any suggestion for any possible improvement in our policy activities. We want to serve you even better.