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Kalinak: Opposition's Claims on Investors' Lack of Interest Misleading
Thursday 10 December 2009 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, December 10 (TASR) - Claims by Opposition MPs about investors' diminishing interest in Slovakia and increasing doubts regarding the country's economic power are misleading and unsubstantiated, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Robert Kalinak said during Question Hour in Parliament on Thursday.
"Hardly anybody doubts that foreign investors always do a thorough reckoning about conditions in a country they plan to invest in. They weigh both the risks and the rewards. That's why we can be pleased that, despite the economic crisis, the majority of investors are not only staying in Slovakia but new ones are coming," he said, speaking on behalf of Premier Robert Fico, and cited latest investments by Volkswagen in Bratislava and AU Optronics in Trencin.
The fact that the interest of investors in Slovakia persists can be proved by a higher volume of investments vis-a-vis last year, he added. A total of 136 investment projects amounting to €4.3 billion were registered in Slovakia in the first three quarters of 2009.
Kalinak also noted that the latest statistics and predictions of developments indicate a gradual revival of the Slovak economy. In the third quarter of 2009 Slovakia's quarter-to-quarter growth was the second fastest in the EU, right behind Lithuania, he said. "This is true not only as far as Slovakia goes, but worldwide a certain optimism has returned, with fears about future economic developments decreasing every day," added the vice-premier.
According to recent figures from the Slovak Statistics Office, the third quarter saw a slowdown in the economic decline to 4.8 percent, compared to 5.7 and 5.5 percent in the first and second quarters, respectively.
Official prognoses by the Finance Ministry predict Slovakia's economy to drop by 5.7 percent this year.
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