Industrial parks play significant role in the economical development of every country. They create space for attracting foreign investors, producing various products and services, create favourable conditions for development of small and medium enterprises, while applying modern technologies and concentrating at production of hi-tech products. In my paper will be presented the process of establishing industrial parks in Slovakia and their contribution for the development of the slovak economy. Attention will be given to the description of various categories and types of industrial parks in Slovakia.

György Kadocsa

¼ubica Lesáková

English

Research Papers in Economics

MEB 2008 – 6
th International Conference on Management, Enterprise and Benchmarking 
May 30-31, 2008      Budapest, Hungary 
  23 
Establishing Industrial Parks for the 
Development of the Slovak Economy 
Ľubica Lesáková 
Faculty of Economics, Matej Bel University 
Tajovského Street 10 
975 90 Banska Bystrica 
Slovak Republik 
E-mail: lubica.lesakova@umb.sk 
Abstract: Industrial parks play significant role in the economical development of every 
country. They create space for attracting foreign investors, producing various products and 
services, create favourable conditions for development of small and medium enterprises, 
while applying modern technologies and concentrating at production of hi-tech products. 
In my paper will be presented the process of establishing industrial parks in Slovakia and 
their contribution for the development of the slovak economy. Attention will be given to the 
description of various categories and types of industrial parks in Slovakia. 
1 Introduction 
Industrial parks significantly enhance business environment and create space for 
building economic relationships with important investors. Besides direct effects on 
a particular area like inflow of foreign capital, production of various products and 
services as well as decrease in unemployment, indirect effect comes in the form of 
an increased level of social and cultural life in the region. 
2  Characteristics of the Industrial Park 
According to the Act No 193/2001 on support for the establishment of industrial 
parks in Slovakia, the industrial parks are defined as territory determined by town 
planning scheme or zone planing scheme, on which industrial production, or 
service trade by one or several investors is being carried out, or will be carried out. 
Industrial park under this Act founds municipality. This territory must be 
equipped by primary technical infrastructure (water, gas, power, transport, 
telecommunication, sewage and etc.), the property must be settled and free of 
easements. L. Lesáková 
Establishing Industrial Parks for the Development of the Slovak Economy 
  24 
Industrial Park designates territory with good conceptional layout functioning as a 
whole unit at which the enterprises share common servises provided at the market 
principles by park supervision company. The scale of services is variable and 
depends on: park significance, number of companies established in the park, 
specific investor requirements decided to be established in the park, standard 
services provided independently from industrial park significance and type, 
protection of property, transportation and technical infrastructure maintenance. 
Industrial park has his developer, who is a firm established to promote and to 
ensure the development, building and management of and industrial park. 
Act No 193/2001 on Support for the establishment of industrial parks and 
amendments of this Act (156/2003, 542/2004 and 466/2005) sets out the terms and 
conditions for the award of subsidies for the establishment of industrial parks and 
the powers of state administration authorities for the award of such subsidies and 
the inspection of their apllication in Slovakia. 
A subsidy from the state budget for the establishment of an industrial park may be 
awarded to any municipality or a Higher Territorial Unit which meets the 
requirements for: 
a)  technical infrastructure of the territory and engineering structures necessary 
for the establishment of an industrial park, 
b)  compensation for the land expropriated for the purpose of the establishment 
of the industrial park, 
c)  the coverage of costs of purchase or other transfers, lease or exchange of 
the plots of land designated for the establishment of the industrial park, etc. 
A subsidy can be provided to any municipality, provided that it demonstrates that: 
a)  the territory for the establishment of the industrial park is the approved 
zoning plan of the municipality or Higher Territorial Unit, 
b)  it has secured funds to cover at least 15% of the costs of procurement and 
establishment of the industrial park, including the costs of purchase or 
another transfer, lease or exchange of plots of land, the costs of technical 
infrastructure necessary for the establishment of the industrial park, 
c)  it has concluded a pre-contract with the particular business entity which 
regulates their relations especially where the business entity´s business plan 
for the industrial park is concerned, and also demonstrates the existence of 
the necessary financing for the business plan, 
d)  for industrial parks established within the territory of districts with the 
registered unemployment rate above 10%, the share of the municipality in 
the costs of procurement and establishment of the industrial park shall be 
lowered to 5%. MEB 2008 – 6
th International Conference on Management, Enterprise and Benchmarking 
May 30-31, 2008      Budapest, Hungary 
  25 
3  Establishment of Industrial Parks in Slovakia 
During the years since the state act supporting industrial park development was 
passed, the government set aside almost one billion slovak crowns to develop 
industrial parks. The state contribution for building industrial parks in Zahorie, 
Vrable, Kechnec, Devínska Nová Ves and Galanta was approximately 570 million 
SKK. 
The first industrial parks that received state support of 28,8 million SKK, was the 
industrial park in Vrable. The park is managed by a German Developer, IGP 
Vrable, and firms there produce light machinery, electonics, and health-care 
supplies. The park currently covers 6,5 hectares available for expansion. 
The total size of two industrial parks (Lozorno and EuroValley) in Zahorie is 
approximately 1  300 hectares. According to the development plan, several 
companies specialising in automotive, electro-technical and software production, 
and precise mechanics and opto-electronics will be built in this area. In the future, 
Zahorie will also have recreational and residential areas. 
The government had provided 184,2 million SKK for construction of industrial 
park Kechnec in Eastern Slovakia. This money were used mainly to puchase land 
from private owners and to finish park infrastructure. The total available area is 
323 ha, from which 80 hectares was prepared during the first stage of 
development. Several small companies now have their operations in the park. The 
most important are: Gilbos, a Belgian producer of laser equipment, and Molex, 
and American electro-technical producer. 
The industrial park of sub-contractors for Volkswagen in Devinska Nová Ves is 
spread on the area of 12 hectares, and another 22 hectares are available for 
expansion.The park is managed by a private developer, J&T Global. For its 
construction, the state provided 83,7 million SKK. The park has a „logistics“ 
character, because it composed of warehouses and assembly facilities. Several 
international companies, for example SAS Automatives, Eurofit, Faurecia, Gruppo 
Antolin, SDC, Hella and others, buit their plants in the park or in its surrounding. 
The state has provided 20,5 million Sk to finish access roads to an industrial area 
occupied by the company SAMSUNG Electronics Slovakia, in Galanta. 
SAMSUNG in Galanta specialitses in the production of PC and colour TV 
monitors. In the year 2006 the company had increased its revenue to 1,1 billion 
USD and had invested 60 million USD. This investment created 2 000 new jobs. 
The main advantages of the above mentioned first established parks in Slovakia 
are: completed ownership relationships, issued permits for land use, finalised 
transport and technical infrastructures, experienced management and an 
abundance of a skilled labourforce. 
 L. Lesáková 
Establishing Industrial Parks for the Development of the Slovak Economy 
  26 
Table 1 
Overview of industrial parks in Slovakia according to individual categories 
Categories of IP 
1
st category 
Locations 
Devínska Nová Ves, Lozorno, Vráble, 
Kechnes, Sladkovicovo, Malý Krtíš, 
Levice-Gena, Chemko-Strázske, Chemes 
Humenné, Galanta 
Area (ha) 
 
 
 
app. 292,5 ha 
2
nd category  Trnava, Žilina, Zahorie, Medzihaj, Lucenec, 
Martin, Nitra, Poprad, Bánovce nad Bebravou, 
Liptovsky Milkulas, Gemer, Namestovo, 
Snina, Humenné Gutmanovo, Bardejov, Kosice 
Peres, Michalovce, Presov, Banska Bystrica, 
Poprad, Myjava 
 
 
 
 
 
app. 1 593 ha 
3
rd category  Piešťany, Zarnovica, Nova Baňa, Detva, 
Brezno, Zvolen – Lieskovska Luka, 
Turcianske Teplice, Kežmarok, Vranov nad 
Toplou, Sobrance 
 
 
 
app. 228 ha 
1
st category IP – location with finised transport and technical infrastructure, settled 
land ownership, park managements and the possibility for an investor to start 
construction work for their facilities immediately. 
2
nd category IP – location approved for construction work in accord with the land 
use plan, with land ownership details in progress and a partially finished 
infrastructure. 
3
rd category IP – location with mostly unsettled land ownership, without any 
specific use (in a state of consideration). 
A study prepared by the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republik shows, that 
there are 81 locations that are suitable for industrial parks. 
Table 2 
Total area and number of the most suitable locations for placement of industrial parks in regions of 
Slovakia (ha, (number of possible locations) 
Region  Green  Brown  Combined  Total 
Bratislava  3,1 (1)  -  4,7 (1)  7,8 (2) 
Trnava  459,2 (3)  -  1040,0 (1)  1499,2 (4) 
Nitra  765,1 (4)  -  815,2 (6)  1580,3 (10) 
Banská Bystrica  97,4 (4)  29,5 (2)  1765,8 (4)  1892,7 (10) 
Trenčín  38,0 (5)  28,1 (2)  1,9 (1)  68,0 (7) 
Žilina  79,0 (2)  2,4 (1)  540,6 (6)  622,0 (9) 
Prešov  242,9 (5)  311,0 (3)  191,0 (8)  744,9 (16) 
Košice  1580,7 (7)  1381,1 (6)  1261,6 (10)  4223,4 (23) 
Total  3265,4 (31)  1752,1 (13)  5620,8 (37)  10638,3 (81) MEB 2008 – 6
th International Conference on Management, Enterprise and Benchmarking 
May 30-31, 2008      Budapest, Hungary 
  27 
It can be stated, that individual locations in Slovakia are in different stages of 
development, with regard to transport and technical infrastructure, land ownership 
and/or ecological assessment. A more comprehensive assessment of considered 
locations and the ability of related administration bodies to prepare their offers to 
foreign investors could help select only the best locations for investment. 
The region of Eastern Slovakia has a great potential for building IPs because of 
the high qualification of its labourforce when compared to other regions. 
Unfortunately, the region lacks a well-developed highway system. Municipalities 
are very supportive for the construction of industrial park, but lack the money to 
do so. On the other hand, development of specific areas in the region is very 
promising. One example is the area surrounding the Kosice reagion. Nearby is 
located the Peres Industrial Park. This park meets all requirements for becoming a 
prosperous business centre and is in the first stage (96 hectares) of completion. 
Western Slovakia has the best transport and technical infrastructure in the entire 
country including a lot of schools, universities and cultural institutions, and a 
qualified labourforce. However, several locations are more expensive for 
investors. 
Central Slovakia offers investors adavantages, primarily in the areas of tourism 
and services. For example, developed locations offered at a token price, good 
financial services and, in varying degrees, industrially skilled people. 
Each region has its own strengths and opportunities to attract investors from 
specific industries. Regions are trying to offer local incentives like inexpensive 
land, government contribution for re-training and creation of new jobs, exclusion 
for paying property taxes, advantageous long-term rents of facilities, etc. Also, the 
close collaboration of secondary technical and vocational schools with companies 
in designing training programmes may lead to making certain locations more 
attractive for investors, whether local or foreign. 
4  Types of Industrial Parks in Slovakia 
A law promoting the establishment of industrial parks in Slovakia was passed in 
May 2001. Prior to that, legislation did not exist to support the establishment of 
these parks. Even before this law (No 193/2001) was passed, new pojects in 
industrial parks were already well underway. This was primarily due to the 
establishment or expansion of companies that had existing production units and 
property in the park areas. 
Parks Built Close to Existing Investors 
Several important parks have been established as a result of investor interest in 
Slovakia. Examples of these parks are: IP Záhorie (investor Volkwagen), IP 
Poprad Matejovce (Whipool), and IP Kechnec (Molex, Gilbos), IP Žilina (investor 
KIA), IP Trnava (investor Citroen-Peugeot). L. Lesáková 
Establishing Industrial Parks for the Development of the Slovak Economy 
  28 
Typically, a large investor will support, influence, and encourage, the decision by 
other potential investors to locate in their park. Usually, these additional investors 
are suppliers or are in industries related to the primary investor in the park. This 
type of park is one of the fastest growing of its kind in Slovakia. 
Brown Parks 
These types of parks were established in the facilities of former socialistic 
companies. For example, IP Humenné is located in the former facility of the 
Chemos Company. Currently, five international companies are located within this 
park, employing over 3  000 people. Another example is the industrial zone 
Strazske, owned by Chemko, a.s. Both facilities have brown (existing but vacant 
facilities) and green (undeveloped land) areas available for expansion. 
Green Parks 
These parks are established on green land (undeveloped area) which is suitable for 
the expansion. Such industrial parks are located in Devínska Nová Ves, Vráble, 
Kechnec. Many of suggested locations for establishment of industrial parks 
represent this type of parks. 
Industrial parks supported by the governement, in accordance with the law No 
193/2001 Coll. and a special government regulation. (F.e. industrial parks Vrable, 
Zahorie/Lozorno, Kechnes, Devínska Nová Ves, Galanta, Poprad, Lučenec) 
Private Industrial Parks 
Before this law was passed, industrial parks were being set up mainly by foreign 
developers who were represented by influential consortiums. The most successful 
parks of this type are: IP Vrable (german developer IGP Vrable), IP Sladkovicovo 
(Italian developer K.L.E.Group), and IP Devinska Nová Ves (developer J&T 
Global). Those parks were located in regions of Western Slovakia. 
Parks Financed from the PHARE Fund 
Before the law supporting the industrial parks was established, three projects were 
begun and funded in part from the European Union Phare Ecosoc 2000 
programme. The goal of these projects was to revitalise existing, but vacant or 
under-utilised, facilities in the cities of Humenne, Spisska Nova Ves and Roznava. 
The Roznava industrial park is located in a 28 hectare area formerly utilised for 
mining and machinery production. A three-hectare green-field development in 
Humenne (Guttmanovo) is located close to the industrial park of Chemes. This 
three-hectare project will be combined with another five hectares within the 
Chemes park to expand the area for companies already established with the hope 
of also attracting new investors. The Spisska Nova Ves park covers 35 hectares 
and includes both existing but vacant facilities (brown) and developable land 
(green). MEB 2008 – 6
th International Conference on Management, Enterprise and Benchmarking 
May 30-31, 2008      Budapest, Hungary 
  29 
Building of industrial parks is a significant part of SARIO´s effort to attract 
foreign investors to Slovakia. SARIO - Slovak Investment & Trade Development 
Agency is the slovak government investment promotion agency. SARIO provides 
a complete range of services to companies (domestic as well as foreign) looking to 
invest in Slovakia and is ready to help with all parts of the investment process. 
SARIO opened in 2001 regional branches in Prešov, Nitra, Trenčín, Zilina and 
Banska Bystrica with the aim of working with district and city offices to help 
increase the preparedness of individual regions for the entry of new investors. 
The truth is that only a few regions have well prepared plans for establishing 
industrial parks and have clearly defined objectives for their future operation. 
If investors discuss their plans with a municipalty that has a clear vision about the 
park and this vision is supported by a good analysis, success is assured. Feasibility 
studies and discussions with all involved, including local entrepreneurs, banks, and 
other interested parties, can help reduce the risk of failure of the project. 
However, cities and municipalities often lack available and precise information on 
individual locations, status of land ownership, or information on capacities of utility 
systems. 
Due to the industrial parks many small and medium enterprises came into 
existence. Through their cooperation with big investors slovak economy is 
connected to global networks, because domestic companies are able to participate 
in the international production of components all around the world. The size of 
small and medium enterprises, their flexibility and special competencies enable 
them to fulfill the gaps at the market between the large companies, which are not 
able to cover all activities within the industry. They perform many activities, 
which the large companies because of costs through the outsourcing leave for 
small ones. 
Conclusion 
In the strategy of development of slovak economy were identified key sectors the 
promotion of which will be of high priority in the next four years. They include 
information and communication technologies, software production, the 
pharmaceutical industry and production of medical instruments, machinery, and 
services for companies. The aim is to attract the investments in more sophisticated 
branches in order to increase the added value and to stregthen research and 
development. The policy in establishing industrial parks in Slovakia should also 
follow this strategy. 
The article was elaborated in the frame of the research project VEGA 1/0700/08 
„Determinants of innovation activities in small and medium enterprises in 
Slovakia“. 
References 
[1]  Bartková, D. 2005. Priemyselné zóny a parky na Slovensku. In: REGIO 
2005. Zborník príspevkov z medzinárodnej konferencie. Plzeň: 
Zapadočeská univerzita, 2005 L. Lesáková 
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  30 
[2]  Kolláriková, Z. Nové pravidlá pre investorov. In: Hospodárske noviny, 
1.decembra 2005, s. 10 
[3]  Lesáková,  Ľ. 2006. K otázke budovania priemyselných parkov na 
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542/2004 Z.z., ktorým sa mení a dopĺňa zákon č.

K otázke budovania priemyselných parkov na Slovensku. In: Ekonomika a spoločnosť,

Nové pravidlá pre investorov. In: Hospodárske noviny,

Priemyselné zóny a parky na Slovensku. In: REGIO 2005. Zborník príspevkov z medzinárodnej konferencie. Plzeň: Zapadočeská univerzita,

Prínos budovania priemyselného parku v Devínskej Novej Vsi pre rozvoj regiónu Záhorie. In: REGIO/IMPA 2003. Zborník príspevkov z medzinárodnej konferencie. Plzeň Západočeská univerzita,

Establishing Industrial Parks for the Development of the Slovak Economy

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Establishing Industrial Parks for the Development of the Slovak Economy

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