WHEN INVESTORS DON’T PICK UP

In this time of crisis new job positions in Slovak villages and towns aren’t growing as fast as a few years ago. On the contrary, more and more self-governing bodies are worried that they will lose the factories which they attracted. How did mayors react to the new situation? In different ways. Some of them even multiplied their pro-investment activities. Others, on the other hand, are becoming attached to Euro funds or social enterprises. TREND Analyses‘ statistics confirm that there are fewer new investments in Slovakia now. Two years ago the analyses summed it up at 90, for example the arrival of new investors, or the expansion of an already-established investor into a different region, or a capital entrance in a functioning business with a consequent expansion of production. The year before last, there were, on average, seven pieces of such good news in Slovak regions every month. Even the first eight months of last year, before the North American economic crisis started to flood Europe, were not that tragic. Slovakia, at the time, monitored almost 40 positive instances of investment news, on average five a month. But in the last six months, industrial investments have been halted dramatically. Out of those which appeared lately, only one is vital: Taiwanese investor AU Optronics, which wants to build a factory for television monitors in Trencin and employ 3,000 people. Other new investments in industrial production mostly concern new work for a few tens of people. I Pg 24