WHY CONSIDER SLOVAKIA AS YOUR INVESTMENT DESTINATIONSlovakia offers a competitive business environment including several distinctive features, which set Slovakia apart from other CEE (Central & Eastern Europe) countries and thus represent a unique value proposition for investors.1CONVENIENT LOCATIONSlovakia has not only a strategic location in the geographical centre of Europe but above all excellent highway and railway connections to the main European sales and supply markets. Within a radius of 2,000 km from the Slovak borders, there are 600 million potential clients. The Slovak time zone (GMT+1), which enables cooperation with clients all over the world, is also an advantage, especially for shared service centres.2SAFETY AND STABILITYAccording to Credit Insurance Group Credendo, Slovakia is one of the safest and politically most stable countries in Europe. Slovakia reports the lowest risk among the EU member states specifically in the following categories: political violence risk, expropriation risk, currency convertibility and transfer restriction risk. (Credit Insurance Group Credendo)3EUROZONE MEMBERSHIPSlovakia, as one of the few countries in the region, has been a member of the Eurozone since 2009. The introduction of the euro as the official currency means for investors lower transaction costs, reduced risk of currency volatility and increased economic and financial stability.4QUALIFIED AND AVAILABLE LABOR FORCEThe workforce in the Slovak Republic is characterized by high qualification, loyalty to the employer as well as excellent language skills. Furthermore, the labour costs are still relatively low in a comparison with the Western European countries.5LABOUR PRODUCTIVITYAccording to OECD data, Slovakia reaches the highest labour productivity in the region. This enables investors to achieve higher output rates at the same labour costs in comparison to other countries of the Central and Eastern Europe. (OECD)6IMPROVING BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTThe growing competitiveness of the Slovak economy is also reflected in the long-term progress in the Global Competitiveness Ranking (World Economic Forum). The progress in the ranking is a result of the long-term and systematic implementation of measures in favour of entrepreneurs. Examples of such measures are regular anti-bureaucratic packages, introduction of the "one year - one set of rules" principle or the introduction of the so-called 'Kurzarbeit' scheme.7INNOVATIVE ECOSYSTEM AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFERSlovakia is not only a regional leader in the number of installed industrial robots per employee (International Federation of Robotics) but also in the ability of the labour force to adapt to new technologies (World Economic Forum). Statistics prove the high potential for technology-intensive industrial projects and technology centres.8ECONOMY OPENNESSSlovakia has long been one of the most open economies in the world. When comparing countries based on the export of goods to GDP ratio, Slovakia is the most open EU member state. (Eurostat)9WELL DEVELOPED INFRASTRUCTURESeveral major EU transport corridors pass through Slovakia. In connection with the advanced and constantly developing road and railway infrastructure, Slovakia has the potential to become one of the most important logistics hubs in Europe.10WELL DEVELOPED INFRASTRUCTUREIn Slovakia, investors can benefit from an attractive regional investment incentives scheme, a preferential tax regime for research and development activities and other support mechanisms.CONTACTFor more information on advantages of investing in Slovakia, please contact invest@sario.sk.