Investment-friendly market Slovakia (03.06.2009)
According to the Austrian business journal Wirtschaftsblatt Slovakia offers attractive conditions to foreign investors. The authorities in Bratislava give out generous subsidies to foreign companies investing in Slovakia.
The Wirtschaftsblatt cites the Slovak corporate tax rate of 19% (a flat rate tax across many tax types) as very competitive in EU comparison. Moreover, the investment funds are awarded in various sectors such as industry, tourism and technology. Not least smaller and medium-sized businesses entering the Slovak market can count with generous investment grants - especially so when investing in the emerging regions of Central and Eastern Slovakia. This latest report confirms that despite the economic downturn deriving from the global economic crisis, Slovakia and other markets in the CEE region - whether Poland or the Czech Republic - still offer stable conditions and thus excellent potential for successful business activities – whether regarding market entry or business growth in the CEE region. It does thus not surprise that most experts conclude that the new EU member countries in Central Eastern Europe will soon catch up again with Western markets. This trend is also confirmed by the latest figures of the World Competiveness Yearbook 2009 (WCY), recently published by IMD Lausanne. According to this competitiveness report the CEE countries hold similar positions as a year ago - with the exception of Hungary. It is likely that the upward trend of the recent years will soon re-gain momentum and thus more business activities will be created or relocated to the CEE region. Sustained business success in the markets of Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria is thus a fact and not merely wishful thinking by risky investors. And as more and more companies appreciate the business conditions in the dynamic CEE markets, even the times of crisis offer hitherto unrecognized opportunities and investment incentives. Just to name an example the recruiting of qualified staff is in these days much easier as during the boom years (up to 2008) as also salary levels are adjusted downwards. Slovakia and its neighbouring countries offer thus currently not only funding opportunities from the local government, but many market-inherent incentives. Read more about the attractive investment climate in Slovakia on Wirtschaftsblatt.at (article in German).
