Opportunities in Slovakia

Industrial plots and skilled talent readily available

Radovan Brtis

There are plenty of reasons why Slovakia could be an interesting base for your future industrial development. Particularly for businesses in the areas of automotive, processing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food and R&D.

First of all, Slovakia is located at the centre of Europe, providing a gateway to 35 million customers within a 1,000 km radius. The region is also very stable politically and boasts a progressive business and investment climate. Its many universities are geographically spread throughout the country, making highly skilled labour widely available for any sector. At the same time, labour costs have been kept relatively low.

… still one of Europe’s best performing economies.

Slovakia continues to be one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. It has a long tradition in electro-technical engineering, chemicals, clothing, wood-processing and the food industry. But first and foremost, Slovakia is a world leader in the automotive industry. Volkswagen has a plant near the capital city of Bratislava, PSA-Peugeot has its factory near Trnava in the West, and Kia Motors is situated near Žilina, a major city in the Northwest of the country. Combined annual automotive production in Slovakia reaches levels of one million cars. And a fourth factory, a Jaguar/Land Rover plant, is now under construction in Nitra. At full capacity, it will produce another 350,000 cars a year. In recent years, the cities of Bratislava, Trnava and Žilina have undergone a natural development of automotive clusters, with Nitra in the Southwest – Slovakia’s fourth largest city – the next hot spot. The Nitra and Trnava regions are also home to electromechanical clusters around Samsung and Foxconn Slovakia.

… a world leader in the automotive industry.

Investors in Slovakia profit from government incentives ranging from subsidies for the acquisition of material and immaterial assets, income tax relief, direct subsidies for job creation or even salary payment, to price-cuts for intangible assets such as building plots. This incentive-policy has remained very stable over the years. The subsidy period is usually five years with respect to tax cuts. Job creation incentives usually extend for up to two years. Incentives, however, are subject to change. Government incentives vary from sector to sector and region to region. And once a region is well on its way to development, incentives for that region can change. Those first in line profit the most.

… plenty of land and skilled talent available.

Which brings me to perhaps Slovakia’s most important strength: the large availability of industrial building sites. For example: a choice between 10 ideal plots within the customer’s designated 150 km radius is quite common. And those 10 plots represent only a small portion of the total selection of industrial land available.

The Slovak Republic consists of eight regions, all of which are self-governing. Until now, many foreign investors opted for the western regions of the country due to the existing businesses and the more developed infrastructure and road network. But, with the highway network growing steadily, this focus is shifting. Two main routes, a northern and a southern one, will give full and easy access to central and eastern Slovakia. Within five years, central and eastern Slovakia will be fully connected and even more open for business. And government incentives make an investment in the central and eastern part even more attractive, for all industries.

Within five years, two new highways will give full and easy access to central and eastern Slovakia.

Many of the building sites in Slovakia are prepared for development within a zoning plan, which speeds up the development process. The availability of building sites and infrastructure are important factors when choosing a location for your business. But other relevant factors also need to be taken into consideration.

Our role at ILD is to listen to your needs and requirements. Based on this 360° perspective, we begin our search. We can advise you on the best location. And once we come to an agreement, we can take over the entire process, from design, development and permits to construction and long-term maintenance. We closely supervise quality, timing and budget, and make use of global knowledge and local competence. We are the one-stop solution provider in industrial real estate development.

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