According to the State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, the modernization of industry rests on three pillars: energy, a stable business environment, and an innovation-driven economy. The goal is to clean up the opaque system of support for research and innovation, strengthen cooperation among ministries, and kick-start dialogue with employers. The preparation of people and the sensible timing of public investments will also play a key role.
Three pillars of modernization: energy, business environment, innovation
Energy is about more than price compensation — it is a prerequisite for any future growth. The reforms therefore aim to secure resources and make supplies predictable, so that companies can plan. In parallel, the stability of the rules for doing business is to be strengthened, without which innovation will hardly take root.
Today’s weakest link is the digitalization of small and medium-sized enterprises, which form the backbone of the economy. Only a portion of them has engaged with digital solutions, which reduces productivity and slows innovation. The state does not want to dictate, but to create a platform and return to a substantive dialogue with the market, so that support goes where it makes sense.
Clean up the innovation ecosystem
The system of grants and agencies for research, development, and innovation is fragmented and opaque for recipients. The government’s ambition is to curb departmentalism and compel key ministries to cooperate. Alongside the economy, education and labor play a fundamental role, with resources supplemented by the recovery plan and the investments ministry.
The division of competencies is to be clear: research and development, including grants and methodologies, would be managed by the Ministry of Education, while innovation would operate as a one-stop shop at the Ministry of Economy with a single implementation agency. The goal is to ease access for businesses as well as the public sector and shorten the path from idea to practice. After the energy crisis, which swallowed the investment reserves of many firms, such transparency and stability are even more important.
People, priorities, and money
It won’t work without people. A human resources development strategy through 2050 is to be created, prepared with employers and unions in the alliance of sectoral councils, with the Ministry of Economy also to be actively involved. There is a shortage of specialists in energy, nuclear technologies, and design, and lifelong learning for more than a million workers has been neglected. In the short term, an influx of qualified workers from abroad is also expected to help.
Support for innovation should rest on a stable environment and a focus on areas in which Slovakia can excel: semiconductors, battery storage, hydrogen, and geothermal energy. A return to the 200-percent super-deduction for research and development is also being considered, but decisions will be limited by the state of public finances. Steps may therefore come gradually if priorities can be agreed and resources found. Without coordination and predictability, however, the modernization leap will not happen.
