Slovak industry under pressure: What do the experts say?

Slovak industry faces fundamental challenges that affect us all. At the October TA3 Industry conference, which the Association of Industrial Unions and Transport oversaw as the professional guarantor, our experts from various industrial sectors and transport openly discussed what troubles Slovak industrialists.

Branislav Klocok, member of the board of directors of the Federation of Metallurgy, Mining Industry and Geology of the Slovak Republic, clearly named the link between the Slovak economy and Germany: „80 % of Slovak GDP is directly tied to business with Germany. If Germany is today on the brink of economic collapse, then it is not just a question of whether it might affect us, but how to prepare for it.“

Pavol Kováčik, president of the Federation of Construction Entrepreneurs of Slovakia, drew attention to the problem of the declining qualification of the workforce: „For 30 years we were attractive to investors thanks to a qualified workforce. Today we have an incredibly ossified education system and at the same time we retrain very slowly and insufficiently, giving workers new skills that the labour market needs. There is no one to operate the new technologies that are arriving.“

Vladimír Slezák, vice-president of the Federation of Mechanical Engineering Industry of the Slovak Republic, emphasised the lack of impact analyses in European Union decisions: „Many decisions in the EU are made without impact analyses. And that is one of the main problems. Finding solutions in such a situation is not at all easy. We should go back and perhaps try to discuss with the EU about reconsidering some decisions.“

František Komora, president of the Federation of Logistics and Forwarding of the Slovak Republic, described the impact of global logistics changes: „Our entire economy in the past had a vision and a just-in-time goal. And suddenly, on the railway, which provided significantly shorter transport from China to Europe than sea transport and was significantly cheaper than air transport, a problem appeared that had an impact on the economy and logistics of companies.“

Ján Biznár, president of the Association of Rail Carriers of Slovakia, pointed out that everyone supports the railways, but the reality is somewhere else entirely: „The Czech Republic is still a model for us, even though it is not exactly top of the class. I dare to state that we are moving at the same pace as the Czech Republic, walking in step, except that the Czechs go forward and we go backward, which is a pity.“

Peter Sádovský, president of the Federation of Bus Transport, outlined the negative impacts of rising costs on public transport: „We are like the vascular system of the economy, so without us it does not work. When our costs rise, every single employer in Slovakia can potentially have a problem, because people will come to work with greater difficulties. Or they will not come.“

Alexander Matušek, president of the Federation of the Automotive Industry of the Slovak Republic and vice-president of APZD, explained the topic of the Green Deal: „The basic question, Green Deal yes or no? We need to clarify why we are actually doing it. The problem is that in environmental policy we have not set up any industrial policy. Or we did set it up, but it does not work and it needs to be reconsidered.“

During the conference several strong ideas about the future of Slovak industry were voiced, ideas that concern us all. Be sure to watch the recording of the conference on the APZD website.