From a deep-rooted armaments and heavy industry past, the region is successfully making the transition to support modern technologically advanced export driven manufacturing. The town of Martin, courtesy of a mayor who understands the needs of the foreign investor, has witnessed the largest increase in FDI flows compared to any other city in Slovakia.

The attractive capital city, with its gothic and baroque churches, is 200 km from Bratislava and 250 km from Vienna airport and with a population of 100,000 plays host to the largest concentration of banks outside of Bratislava. The University of Zilina features a Faculty of Economics, Faculty of Transport and Communication, Faculty of Building, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Management and Information Science and the Faculty of Special Engineering. Amongst the research institution, the city also hosts the Research Institute of Computer Technology.

A rapidly expanding highway network facilitates easy access to the west and to adjoining Poland to the north. The regional airport has scope for further commercial development and rail links are excellent.

In 1998 the Danish footwear company, ECCO, invested around $20 million in a new manufacturing facility in Martin holding out the prospect of 1,700 new jobs and on an adjacent site Volkswagen has invested around $65 million in a new plant for automotive components. Within that highly competitive sector, yet another world class company has recently invested in Martin, the US company, Johnston Controls, which employs around 400 people.

Other leading companies in the area with foreign capital include Alcatel engaged in the manufacture of telecom equipment and software development, CRT-Electronic producing TV and radio receivers, Hoechst-Biotika manufacturing pharmaceutical preparations, Matsushita with around 500 making electronic components, United Electronics which is also producing electronic components, Tran with almost 1,000 producing knitted garments and Sweedwood producing furniture.

General information

Slovakia boasts eight well developed regions and in terms of population, they are finely balanced, as the table below illustrates

Regions of Slovakia and Population - Total Population of Country - 5.4 million

Unlike the neighbouring countries with which Slovakia competes for foreign direct investment, manufacturing and the established infrastructure to underpin the activities, is not concentrated in a few territories. Rather, Slovakia has a well balanced manufacturing base with an even distribution of production activity across the eight regions as outlined below.

Regions of Slovakia - Workforce engaged in Manufacturing