Place for Headquarters
Bratislava's strategic location will make the city very attractive for the establishment of corporate headquarters. Lower rent for luxurious office space makes Bratislava preferable cost-wise. These benefits will become even stronger after June 1, 2004 when Slovakia becomes an EU member and the borders with Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland will open up. Travelers will no longer have to stop at a customs office every time they come to a border.

Strength In Manufacturing and Assembly
With the lowest average monthly wage of all the Visegrad countries ($277/month) and the second highest average unemployment rate in the region (19.0%), Slovakia offers easy access to a large pool of inexpensive labor. Moreover, the local mandatory ten-year school attendance program produces workers with better and broader skills than most other countries in the world. A recent global study of math and science skills ranked Slovak eight-graders 8th in the world in math, well above their counterparts in the U.S. (who ranked 19th) and England (20th). Slovak students also ranked 10th in science, also higher than U.S. students, who ranked 18th. In addition, real estate costs are relatively low, the physical infrastructure is highly developed, and Slovakia has a strong tradition of manufacturing.

Several major foreign manufacturers have already made significant investments in Slovakia. Volkswagen, for example, entered Slovakia in 1991 and employed 114 people. By the end of 2002, the German automobile producer was Slovakia's leading foreign investor with over 9,000 people on its payroll and exports of $2.39 billion. The Slovak facility recorded a 23.5% increase in revenues in 2002. This surprisingly high performance came in conjunction with efforts to produce a new model, the Touareg. Most of Volkswagen's exports went to EU countries, such as Germany, France, Holland, and Austria. The company invested $319 million in 2001 and initiated and supported the building of a nearby industrial park with the objective of having a just-in-time production process. Other major industrial investors include US Steel, whose massive facility in the East Slovak city of Kosice ranks among the largest and most productive steel mills in the world, and Whirlpool, the U.S. based white goods manufacturer, which entered Slovak market in 1992 with an initial capacity of 97,000 washing machines. In 2003 Whirlpool plans to increase its washing machine production capacity to 2 million units from its current 1.5 million (over 2000% capacity increase in less than 12 years). If Whirlpool succeeds, its Slovak facility will become the biggest Whirlpool washing machine production facility in the whole European continent!

High-tech Opportunities
Slovakia has a large pool of underutilized, talented individuals in the fields of science and technology. The country leads the CEE region in scientific and engineering talent, with 1,706 scientists and engineers in research & development per 1 million people. By comparison, the ratio in the Czech Republic is 1,317, in Hungary 1,249, and in Poland 1460. Because of the small size of the country and locally small R&D budgets, many top Slovak science and technology professionals currently have to choose between inconvenient relocation to pursue better paid opportunities abroad and taking low paid and unchallenging jobs domestically. Most decide to stay, but would jump at new and challenging opportunities in Slovakia. More importantly, Slovakia's average wage, the lowest in the region, makes the savings to foreign investors even greater when employing Slovakia's skilled workforce.

Several foreign investors have already recognized the opportunity that Slovakia presents in the area of technology. World-leading IT companies such as Oracle, HP, IBM, and SAP are already well established and growing. SAP, headquartered in Walldorf, Germany, and the world's largest inter-enterprise software company, is currently the e-business leader in Slovakia. After 10 years in the Slovak market the company recorded a 39% increase in local revenue in 2001, a year in which the company's global revenue grew only 17%. In 2002, despite the global economy slowdown Slovakia's office sales growth was 189% of SAP's global sales growth.

A European Base for Outsourcing
Ready access to low cost, skilled labor also makes Slovakia an excellent choice for outsourcing opportunities. Often, it is enough to hire a local English-speaking team or individual to manage projects or operations. When outsourced to local partners, foreign companies may realize significant cost savings and even consider outsourcing an efficient and cheap gateway to establish their presence in the region through a number of other ways, including acquisitions or joint ventures.

Slovakia's advanced infrastructure provides tools for effective and efficient communication and data exchange with foreign partners. As of January 1, 2003 broadband Internet access with speeds up to 2Mbps (Megabits per second) are being tested by Internet Service Providers and should be offered during the second quarter of 2003 to the public. Such inexpensive data access at these speeds is still rare in many parts of the U.S. The most recent study by the Worldbank revealed that Slovakia ranked first among other Visegrad countries for computer experience, with 136.9 computers per thousand people. By comparison, the Czech Republic had 122 per thousand, Hungary had 85.3, and Poland had 68.9. Slovakia also ranked first for "Internet Speed and Access" earning 4.4 points out of a possible 7 in the same report. The Czech Republic only scored a 4.1, Hungary a 4.0, and Poland a 2.9.

Mobile GSM signals cover virtually the whole country, and local providers already offer sophisticated services such as mobile account recharge through ATMs and mobile banking. Slovak EuroTel was the first telecommunication provider in the world that allowed its GSM subscribers to watch TV live on their handsets, and among the first 5% of providers in the world to launch Multimedia Messaging Systems (MMSs).

An Ideal Test Market
Slovakia's compact market of five million opens up unique opportunities for companies to test their products and services. Whether it is a new chocolate bar, broadband access, mobile payments, advanced health treatments, new tennis shoes, or any other product, process, or service, the Slovak market is well suited for such tests. The small size of the country allows for cheap and quick adjustments or revisions to existing practices and the installation of new technologies or processes. Highly skilled local people can easily ensure the quality of test processes.

A New Tourism Destination - Ski Resorts, Mountains, Spas, Towns, and Castles
"…We had such a great time. We all can't wait to go home and tell everyone that we have been to Slovakia! How cool does that sound!!!…" says Rachelle Weber in an email sent from an Internet Café in Prague after visiting quite a few Central European cities, including Krakow and Vienna. She wrote this email shortly before heading back home to Newport Beach, California. Slovakia is still a destination which seems exotic to foreigners and in which one can still enjoy the authentic atmosphere of a European country that has not yet experienced a flood of foreign tourists.

The ski resorts of the Tatra Mountains are much sought after destinations for many tourists from neighboring countries. It is not rare to see people traveling over 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) from Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany, or even France to spend their vacation in the Tatras. The Tatras also offer great opportunities for hiking, rock climbing, rafting, biking, paragliding, and other recreational activities.

Spas in Slovakia, run and managed by local people, are not well marketed or known abroad. There are also a great number of natural springs, which are currently not utilized at all - a potentially significant business opportunity.

After the fall of communism, a number of castles and historical buildings were returned to their former owners. Others have reverted to municipal ownership, and cash-strapped local governments are seeking partners or buyers to renovate and operate these valuable pearls of the country's rich history.

The people of Slovakia are welcoming more and more foreign visitors into their towns each year. A few small entrepreneurs have recently started to produce brochures, and offer unique artifacts and souvenirs. Some have even rebuilt historic cars for touring the old towns. Significant opportunities for introducing and operating new attractions to keep tourists in the cities over longer periods of time still exist.

Perhaps the greatest prospects in the Slovak tourism industry lies in improving quality and broadening the range of existing recreational services. Slovakia is potentially attractive not only to independent travelers seeking the authentic atmosphere of an "off-the-beaten-track" European country, but also to tourists desiring greater comfort and a greater number of choices.

Movie Industry:
Making a movie in Slovakia is easy and inexpensive. Much human talent is readily available, and the country possesses a varied climate containing the kinds of scenery desired by producers and directors. Beautiful mountains with steep hills and unique waterfalls, medieval towns, untouched meadows, fairy tale castles and caves, large lakes, wooden cottages, or even modern shopping malls and busy expressways can all be found within the country's borders.

Education and Health:
Frequent complaints and the high rate of non-transparent practices in these two sectors clearly demonstrate a lack of competition. There are mainly state-run universities and hospitals, which provide essentially free services to Slovak citizens but at a cost of lower quality. The first privately owned clinics and schools are just emerging, so there is still space for more organizations to enter the market. At the end of 2002 the Ministry of Education had only two private colleges and universities registered compared to the twenty-one state-run facilities. The health sector situation is no different. Only small, private offices and undercapitalized clinics were established. The more demanding clients, including the current president of the Slovak Republic, were willing to pay the higher prices and travel to neighboring Austria in order to get better quality care.

Real Estate Opportunities
It is still relatively complicated for foreign citizens to acquire real estate in Slovakia. They can only do so through a commercial entity, meaning that foreign citizens need to open their own firm in Slovakia if they desire to purchase real estate there. This makes it cumbersome and inconvenient. A number of ex-patriots working in Bratislava commute to work from the neighboring Hungary simply because foreigners can easily acquire real estate in Hungary. But since current Slovak regulations will have to conform to the EU laws by May 2004, the market is expected to open to all interested individuals soon. The elimination of these barriers will most likely result in increased demand and subsequently higher prices for luxurious, residential real estate in Slovakia.

Industrial Parks in Slovakia
The government of Slovakia passed an Industrial Parks Law in March 2001, allowing municipalities to receive funds from the central government to secure suitable land and build sufficient infrastructure. According to the law, the central government may cover up to 70 percent of the cost to purchase or lease land and develop the necessary infrastructure. After only a few months had passed, several industrial parks had been established or were being built in Malacky, Trnava, Gabcikovo, Sladkovicovo, Vrable, Kechnec, Strazske, Roznava, Spisska Nova Ves, Bardejov, Kosice - Peres, Michalovce, Poprad - Matejovce, and Humenne. They all now provide a modern infrastructure, convenient location, expedient sourcing, and a readily available local workforce.