Slovak News Back to the news
Simon: Slovak Food-Processing Industry Participation in GDP Only 2%
Sunday 02 January 2011 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, January 2 (TASR) - It is abnormal that Slovakia's food-processing industry only participates in the GDP at a rate of 2 percent, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Zsolt Simon (Most-Hid) has told TASR.
"Something is failing in Slovakia in the sphere of the food-processing industry ... it's not normal," Simon said, pointing out that in most EU countries the figure is more like 10-15 percent. "It's clear that we produce basic foodstuffs, but import food products," Simon said in an interview.
According to Simon, sales of regional products should be supported; but protecting the free market prevails to an excessive degree. "This is why we want to scrap all the legislative measures that are above the EU standards but valid in Slovakia," he said.
When speaking about the reasons for the low competitiveness of Slovak producers, Simon pointed to practices where, for example, hogs are bred in eastern Slovakia, transported to the west to be slaughtered, transported back to Kosice, where the meat is processed, but then sold in Bratislava. This maximisation of inefficiency was important in making the pre-1989 communist system work, and it is still extant in this sphere. "With this system and this logic, we can't be competitive," he said, adding that it is cheaper to import the products at the moment.
"When we decide on our approach vis-a-vis regional products ... smaller producers may, in fact, be deemed regional particularities and this will be one of the ways how to increase the amount of Slovak products on the food market," Simon claims, adding that products should be produced on a regional basis for regional markets.
Another thing is that, according to Simon, Slovaks should become more aware consumers and prefer Slovak products. "This is how they indirectly give jobs to their colleagues, neighbours and friends, not to German, Austrian producers or anybody else," he added.
All rights reserved. Any publishing or further dissemination of press releases and photographs from TASR's resources without TASR's prior written approval constitutes a violation of the Copyrights Act.
