Annual Report Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic 2008

Slovak Economic Diplomacy
Economic diplomacy, brought into the spotlight
by the dramatic progress of the global
financial and economic crisis, has become
a priority of the utmost significance, along with
work related to politics and international relations.
In this regard, operative procedures were
combined with activities directed at formulating
a strategy for economic diplomacy and the realization
of multiple supplementary tasks.
Assistance to Small
and Medium Enterprises
Attention was devoted primarily to Slovakia’s performance
within the EU structures, especially to
the adequate preparation for negotiations within
the individual groupings of the European Council
and simultaneously to the observation of procedural
effectiveness in utilizing the benefits related
to membership in this organization. Thus, emphasis
was put on the European Globalization Adjustment
Fund (EGF) which enables us to provide
support for those who lost their jobs as a result
of structural changes in the international trade
system. In close cooperation with the Slovak Ministry
of Economy in particular, the MFA worked on
assignments related to the European Economic
Recovery Plan which could provide an important
stimulus in overcoming the consequences of the
economic crisis. Due to the unsatisfactory utilization
of EU resources dedicated to supporting
small and medium enterprises (SMEs) (a result of
the overly demanding criteria in Slovakia and insufficient
capital assets), the MFA strived to find
a solution by organizing a specialized event concerned
with mediating the necessary information
to SMEs. An integral part of the work was ‘territorial
cooperation’ or the task of managing the
bodies of both operational programmes – South-
Eastern Europe and Central Europe (supervised in
Slovakia by the Ministry of Environment – MoE)
and EU regional programmes – ENPI, CBC, and
cross-border cooperation programmes as part
of the third objective of the EU cohesion policy
2007-2013, also supervised by the MoE. The Euroregional
activities support programme SPERA has
also been purposefully utilized.
Changes in the Organization of
Joint Slovak OECD Activities
The opportunities presented by EU membership
also provide for the distribution of resources
from the EEA Financial Mechanism, the Norwegian
Financial Mechanism and the Swiss Financial
Mechanism. Besides the participation in the
work of the National Monitoring Committee for
Implementation, this also concerns the prepara-
Radomír Boháč,
Head of the Directorate
General for Economic
Cooperation and Official
Development Assistance,
MFA
Our Motto is to be as
Accommodating as Possible
What were your intentions when you took over as
head of the newly established DG for Economic Cooperation
and Official Development Assistance (ODA)
at the time of the increasing global financial and economic
crisis?
The greatest challenge of my work was to intensify
the dialogue between the MFA and the Slovak
business community and its interest groups with
the goal of incorporating their expectations into
real departmental policies. Being as accommodating
as possible towards the requirements of our
entrepreneurs in supporting their activities abroad,
even going beyond the framework of our operations,
during the exceptional conditions of the
world economic crisis is our motto. I pay the same
amount of attention to maximizing synergy in the
cooperation between the MFA and the Ministry of
Economy in the realization of economic diplomacy
and I especially value the progress we have been
able to achieve in terms of the level and intensity
of communication between both departments. The
concept for the Economic Dimension of Slovak Diplomacy
which is currently being prepared will be
an important instrument; we anticipate that it will
be deliberated by the Government of the SR in the
first half of 2009.
The MFA’s role is irreplaceable at a time of deepening
world economic crisis, which requires solutions
based on close international cooperation. In
this regard, the MFA has the resources and means
so that it can promptly identify the important phenomena
linked to the crisis, adequately evaluate,
and prepare its response with the goal of eliminating
the impact on our economy and society in general.
The steps and measures that have been applied
in other countries comparable to Slovakia may serve
as a source of valuable inspiration. The network of
Slovak diplomatic missions is an important gateway
to this information. As Head of the DG, I will strive
to ensure that the missions see trade and economic
issues as a first priority. It is our Embassies and
other diplomatic missions which must serve as the
first and main contact point for the representatives
of the business community, because they possess
databases containing information regarding the
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