Italian-Slovak Chamber of Commerce Celebrates 20th Anniversary
Bratislava, June 1 (TASR) – The Italian-Slovak Chamber of Commerce (CAMIT) celebrated its 20th anniversary with President Andrej Kiska in attendance at a gala in Bratislava on Wednesday evening, also noting the fact that it’s helped around 3,000 Italian companies to establish themselves in Slovakia, TASR learnt on Thursday.
Kiska at the gala thanked the Italian companies belonging to the chamber for their activities in Slovakia, pointing to his own Italian roots, as his great-grandfather with the Slovak name of Stefan Pavan came from Italy to Slovakia to work as a miner.
According to the Chamber, Italy was the fourth largest investor in Slovakia in 2012 and has probably remained in the same spot.
“Slovakia is interesting for investors due to its relatively cheap labour force, the proximity of eastern markets and due to tax charges,” said Chamber president Alexander Resch.
“At the same time, Slovak companies, mainly from manufacturing, have interesting export engagements with the Italian peninsula. For example, one Slovak steel company exports 80 percent of its production to Italy,” said Resch.
At the moment, around 200 companies are members of the Italian-Slovak Chamber of Commerce, providing some 30,000 jobs combined in Slovakia.
The largest companies with Italian capital in Slovakia include VUB Banka, insurance company Generali, Brovedani Slovakia, UniCredit Bank, Technogym E.E., Magneti Marelli Slovakia, GGP Slovakia, Oldrati Slovensko and European Fruit Group.
