President of the Slovak Republic Received Senior Minister of the Government of the Republic of Singapore Goh Chok Tong

Shortly after the official visit of President of the Slovak Republic Ivan Gašparovič to Singapore, Senior Minister of the Government of the Republic of Singapore Goh Chok Tong visited Slovakia.

He met with President Gašparovič who during their talks emphasized the successful economic parameters and trajectories of the economic growth of the Slovak economy. He informed the Singapore guest about the positions of the Slovak Republic within the Central European region and the key characteristics of the growth of GDP as well as circumstances of strengthening of the Slovak crown.

Goh Chok Tong referred to some parallels in the histories of both states as also Singapore had to undergo the process of winning independence from Malaysia, including all the complexities of such a process. He appreciatively noted that Slovakia discharged some problems much faster, and today it ranks among respected and dynamically developing states in Europe.

The Senior Minister of Singapore was particularly impressed by the boom of the automotive industry and tagged Slovakia as „Detroit of Central Europe“. In addition, he expressed his conviction that Slovakia would manage to offer not only skilled workmen but also competent experts for modern technologies which would shift the Slovak economy forward. According to him, Slovakia is the smallest but the most stable and most dynamically developing economy in the region of Central Europe.

In the discussion with the Singapore official, President Gašparovič remarked that in addition to the development of the automotive industry, the Slovak Republic is ready to continue also with the traditions of mechanical, chemical and metallurgical industries. He emphasized the highly educated labour force as an advantage of the Slovak Republic.

This is also one of the reasons why the priorities of Slovakia include the knowledge economy and the importance of supporting small and medium enterprises. The President said that Slovakia does not want to limit its trade only to the markets of the European Union.

On the contrary, it wants to look for possibilities also in Russia and Asia and many other states. In the field of the foreign policy, the Slovak Republic wants to be an active partner in international institutions and organizations. The guest from Singapore said that „Singapore could be a gateway for small and medium companies from the Slovak Republic“. He added that he could see a major option for the Slovak-Singapore cooperation in developing sub-contracting activities for automotive and electro-technical industries.

President Ivan Gašparovič went even further and said that there are some possibilities of cooperation also in the fields of wood-processing and glass industries that have long-time traditions in Slovakia.