INTERVIEW: Slovakia Hopes Mutual Business Advances with Japan

   Tokyo, May 2 (Jiji Press)--Slovakia hopes for more investment from Japanese companies while asking Slovak firms to perform more actively in Japan, Slovak Ambassador to Japan Ivan Surkos said in a recent interview with Jiji Press.
   With a population of some 5.5 million, Slovakia is located in central Europe, bordered to the east by Ukraine and to the west by Austria. Similar to Japan, the motor industry is its main one with annual production of about one million units. Its per-capita output leads the world.
   Major global automakers except Japanese ones have put production bases in Slovakia, including Volkswagen AG of Germany. South Korean companies have actively advanced and invested more in the country than their Japanese rivals.
   "I will have to say that Korean companies are very, very active in Slovakia," the ambassador explained, noting there are "six times more investments from Korea than from Japan" totaling about 6 billion euros a year.
   When it comes to Japanese investment, Surkos praised Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. for having set up an information technology business foothold and bearing maker MinebeaMitsumi Inc. for having established a production base and a research and development hub.

(2025/05/02-19:08)

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