President of the Slovak Republic Receives Vice President of the World Bank

Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič received the Vice President of the World Bank, Shigeo Katsu, and his team. The President thanked the World Bank for the assistance and help Slovakia had received in order to transform and build its market environment.

Mr Gašparovič was also pleased that, with the help of the World Bank, Slovakia had tackled challenges successfully and joined other successful countries. Slovakia is a fully-fledged EU member and will most likely adopt the common European currency – the euro – as of 1 January 2009. Slovakia considers the agreement to join the Eurozone as an appreciation of its integration efforts and the expression of trust in Slovakia and its economy by the European Union.

The President said that Slovakia was interested in further cooperation with the World Bank, as it is expected that the country will graduate from the Wold Bank and will join the group of the development aid providers. A story of success and Slovakia’s experience may also inspire the economies of developing countries.
During the discussion, the President also enquired about the intentions of the Bank in Central Europe and expressed an interest in the opening of a regional centre of the World Bank in Bratislava, in case the Bank decides to establish a regional office in Central Europe.

The Slovak President pointed out Slovakia’s economic success as well as the good geographical location of the country. These facts make Bratislava a suitable candidate for the establishment of a regional centre of the World Bank for Europe, Asia and Africa in Central Europe.
At the beginning of the meeting, Shigeo Katsu emphasised: “I am here to celebrate the success of your country.” At the same time, he announced an official closing of the World Bank office in the Slovak Republic, which is the result of Slovakia’s graduation from the operations of the World Bank.

The Vice President of the World Banks thinks of the reforms happening over the past 9 – 10 years in Slovakia as “very impressive”. These have transformed Slovakia from a country receiving the development aid to a country providing development aid. Slovakia’s entry next year into the Eurozone also serves as a stimulus for this graduation.
Regarding Slovakia’s interest in the establishment of a regional centre of the World Bank, Mr Katsu said that at the moment logistical and financial matters were not yet solved. However, he sees the Slovak Republic as one of the potential candidates which will be assessed by a committee of the World Bank.

The World Bank’s Director for Central Europe and the Balkans, Orsalia Kalantzopoulos, informed the Slovak president of the World Bank’s intentions in this region. She would like to use Slovakia’s successful transformation and its “story” as an example for developing and transforming countries in Europe.