Survey: 63% of Foreign Companies Positively Assess Slovakia's Economic Situation
Bratislava, March 26 (TASR) – A survey presented at a press conference by the Slovak-German Trade and Industry Chamber (SNOPK) on Monday showed that the current economic situation in Slovakia was evaluated positively by 63 percent of the foreign companies polled, up by 18 percent compared to a year ago.
Only 3 percent assess the situation as bad. Some 41 percent of businesses expect the economic situation to further improve over the year. Half of the survey participants expect an unchanged overall economic situation.
Expectations of development in individual companies are even more optimistic, with 44 percent of companies counting on better deals, and only 8 percent of companies preparing for a worse economic year. Approximately 47 percent of companies would subsequently want to increase the number of their workers and 41 percent also want to increase their investments.
According to the investors, Slovakia is a typical state for EU membership: it has a productive workforce, the willingness to deliver performance at a relatively low cost, as well as the availability and quality of local suppliers.
Slovakia was generally viewed by the survey participants as the second most attractive investment site in Central and Eastern Europe. As in previous years, the Czech Republic ended up in first place, and Estonia and Slovenia ranked third and fourth. The share of companies that would invest again in Slovakia, even under the current conditions, remains stable at 80 percent.
Regarding negatively perceived factors, no improvement has been observed by the investors. Workforce availability is still perceived critically. Many companies are increasingly worried about the development of labour costs. In addition to labour shortages, the pressure on salary levels is also caused by a significant increase in the minimum wage and bonuses for night and weekend work.
Regarding the status of Slovakia’s fight against corruption, the investors are very dissatisfied. They presented the worst evaluation in this regard since the survey’s introduction in 2004.
In addition to SNOPK, the survey was also organised by the Dutch Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia, the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia, the Slovak-Austrian Chamber of Commerce, and Advantage Austria Bratislava in February and March 2018. The survey polled 131 companies operating in Slovakia.
