Fico: Vipo Is Great Example of Skilled Slovak Hands and Wisdom

Fico: Vipo Is Great Example of Skilled Slovak Hands and Wisdom

Partizanske, November 8 (TASR) – A company called Vipo based in Partizanske (Trencin region) is an excellent example of both skilled Slovak hands and Slovak wisdom, stated Prime Minister Robert Fico during a visit to the production area of the aforementioned company on Tuesday.

“It’s a company that manufactures very important machinery used in the manufacture of tyres, and the entire know-how from research to machinery production has been fully in the hands of this Slovak company,” said Fico, stressing that Vipo already represents world quality and wants to go further in its activities.

“At the moment we’re working on implementing smart industry in our equipment. This means that we want to bring our appliances to higher quality by using artificial intelligence and expert systems,” said company director Peter Duchovic.

“We’ll get rid of some errors that are associated with the human factor, and we’ll make sure that we are competitive vis-a-vis that which comes from Asia or other regions,” he added.

During his visit, the Slovak premier also touched on the issue of unemployment in the district of Partizanske. He said that the unemployment rate is very encouraging, as it’s below the national average. “As SARIO [the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency] is currently working on two investments for Partizanske, if a major investor came here today, it would be a real problem finding labour that could be hired for these companies,” he said, adding that Vipo represents a Slovak way of supporting clever people who can invent things.

Apart from visiting the company, Fico also met Partizanske mayor Jozef Bozik to discuss current issues in the town, the planned reconstruction of schools as well as the lack of skilled workers on the labour market.

At a local vocational school, the premier spoke to students about the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the EU and the possibilities of dual education.

At the labour office, he discussed why some unemployed don’t want to work. According to the premier, this issue could be soon resolved partly thanks to a special amendment to the law sponsored by the Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Ministry. “On one hand, it will motivate those who wish to work, and on the other, the bill is expected to bring tougher measures for those who abuse the social system.”