KOŠICE INVEST 2013

(Connection; 09/2013,10/2013; 15/11/2013; s.: 28,29; redakcia ; Zaradenie: KOŠICE INVEST 2013)

To fully celebrate the 10th anniversary of its office in Košice, AmCham Slovakia filled an entire day with interesting events to mark this important occasion. The day started with the Košice Invest Conference which was followed by the tour of the Immopark Industrial Park and concluded with a celebratory cocktail reception at the brand new Kasárne-Kulturpark venue. To fully provide convenient transport possibilities for all AmCham members, AmCham booked a charter flight from Bratislava for members based in the west of the country.

Košice Invest 2013 Conference

Investments represent the lifeblood of economic development. Without investments the economy would stop moving. Forbes Magazine joined the AmCham Investment Conference in Košice for this annual event, effectively creating a discussion platform for the companies with a strong presence in Eastern Slovakia. The main motto of this year’s conference was “Enjoy IT!” This theme was especially appropriate for the high-tech investments that are rather quickly expanding across Slovakia, creating the second most important business sector for the economy. With qualified labor, a well-established education system and a strong field of young and creative entrepreneurs in the start-up community, Slovakia stands in a good position for attracting even more investors in the technology business. This trend can also be seen in Košice, where IT Valley is constantly growing. For this big shift in economy, but also because technology is completely changing the way we live, the annual Košice Invest conference focused mainly on the digital world. The first panel discussed the development of the digital society in Slovakia as well as in Europe. Representatives of the Slovak and Estonian government together with business representatives addressed various issues, such as, how Slovaks use the internet, the levels of their digital skills and what Slovakia needs to build a functioning digital society. The second panel, “IT – new fuel for more FDI in Slovakia” was joined by the Deputy Mayor of Košice and a representative of SARIO. The panelists expressed a belief that development of the digital society in Slovakia has the potential to attract more foreign investment into the country. Yet it is necessary to find how a country with the highest corporate income tax in the V4 region can become attractive for investments with higher added value and innovations. In the last panel business representatives discussed the potential of the Slovak rising stars in IT. They agreed that the startups are the chance for the development of the digital society in Slovakia and some of them have helped to make Slovakia more visible on the global stage.

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Member Tour of Immopark Košice

The busy day continued with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new Immopark hall and a tour of their premises. Immopark Košice is a modern distribution center offering premises suitable for logistics, distribution, warehousing and light production with office spaces.

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Reception

After the tour of Immopark more than 150 AmCham members and supporters gathered in the newly-developed fun and science center called “Steel Park” located in the Kasárne-Kulturpark complex to take part in the festive 10th Anniversary Cocktail Reception. The event was opened by Jake Slegers, Executive Director of AmCham Slovakia. Igor Kotmann, President of the AmCham Board, also welcomed all guests. He was succeeded by President of U.S. Steel Košice George Babcoke, U.S. Ambassador Theodore Sedgwick, Member of the European Parliament Monika Smolková, Deputy Mayor of Košice Ján Jakubov, and Rastislav Puchala, Director of the Košice Office of AmCham Slovakia. They all acknowledged the vital role that the AmCham office in Košice has played over the past 10 years in promoting business values and facilitating commerce and development in the region of Eastern Slovakia.

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Pane l 1: Digita l societ y de velopment in Slovakia From left: Peter Helexa, Director, Project Management and New Business Development, Slovak Telekom; Pavel Bojňanský, General Director of Informatization of Society at the Ministry of Finance SR; Juraj Porubský, Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Slovakia; Taavi Kotka, Deputy Secretary General – ICT at Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications for Estonia; Peter Horovčák, Director, Consulting, Deloitte

Pane l 2: IT – New fuel for more FDI in Slovakia From left: Roman Sabo, Head of the FDI section, SARIO; Thomas Bogdain, Managing Director, T-Systems Slovakia; Juraj Porubský, Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Slovakia; Taavi Kotka, Deputy Secretary General – ICT at Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications for Estonia; and Peter Manda, IT Consulting Services Leader, PwC

Panel 3: Rising stars in IT From left: Matej Ftáčnik, Co-Founder, The Spot; Martin Lohnert, Marketing Director, Soitron; Juraj Porubský, Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Slovakia; Vladimír Švač, Head of Innovation Advisory Services, KPMG; Taavi Kotka, Deputy Secretary General – ICT at Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications for Estonia; and Ján Korecký, Chief Operating Officer, DataMolino

From left: Jake Slegers, Executive Director of AmCham Slovakia; Theodore Sedgwick, US Ambassador; Igor Kottman, President of AmCham Slovakia; George Babcoke, First Vice President of AmCham, President of U. S. Steel Košice; Monika Smolková, Member of the European Parliament; Ján Jakubov, Deputy Mayor of the City of Košice; and Rastislav Puchala, Director of the AmCham office in Košice.

From left: Roman Gašpar, Marcela Spiššáková, Andrea Miháliková, Peter Malík, Katarína Petkáčová, and Monika Burayová of Erste Group Immorent Slovensko s. r. o.

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