Vláda by mala pripraviť plán na reformu odvodového
systému s cieľom znížiť odvodové zaťaženie práce, a tiež zjednodušiť
Zákonník práce. Tieto opatrenia by zvýšili flexibilitu nášho pracovného trhu
a uľahčili vytváranie nových pracovných miest, povedal pre The Slovak
Spectator dňa 27.4. 2009 Radovan Ďurana z INESS.
GERMAN, Austrian and French investors in Slovakia are somewhat sceptical
about how 2009 will pan out and say they expect the year to present more
hurdles to the running of their businesses. Despite the scepticism, 84 percent
of investors say they would pick Slovakia again as the destination for their
investments.
But in order to remain attractive to investors, further reform of Slovakia’s
tax and education systems are desirable, suggests a recent survey by The
Slovak-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Slovak-Austrian Chamber of
Commerce, the commercial department of the Austrian Embassy and the
French-Slovak Chamber of Commerce.
Corruption and problems with law enforcement are also on the list of
shortcomings that the investors would like to see evaporate when it comes to
doing business in Slovakia.
Though the German, Austrian and French companies in Slovakia are feeling the
economic downturn, with 83 percent of the 130 investors surveyed expecting
further deterioration during 2009, they also see themselves in a relatively
good position to face competition, according to Markus Halt of the
Slovak-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
According to the survey, 40 percent of those polled expect the business
situation to remain unchanged or even improve. Still, the deteriorating
situation in the business environment in 42 percent of the foreign firms polled
has resulted in layoffs while more than half of those investors surveyed are
planning to limit their investment costs, according to findings released on
April 16.
“It is the first time that foreign investors from three countries have been
surveyed,” Halt told The Slovak Spectator. “German investors have been surveyed
annually since 2004. In
order to expand the significance of the results, Austrian and French investors
were included this year.”
As for the shortcomings detected in the business environment, Halt said that
investors are unhappy with the state of corruption in Slovakia.
“Of course, it is much lower here than in countries like Romania or
Bulgaria, but it still constitutes a serious problem, especially in the public
sector,” Halt said. “We think that recent scandals around the highway toll
tender or the bulletin-board tender have sharpened the perception of investors
even further.”
According to Halt, another major problem is enforcement of the law.
“Due to the lack of effectiveness of the judicial system, legal actions –
because of unpaid receivables, for instance – can easily take years,” he told
The Slovak Spectator. “Last but not least, the Slovak system of professional
training doesn’t prepare young people well enough for working life. Graduates
very often lack practical skills needed for their profession. If Slovakia wants
to stay competitive in the next decade it has to arrange professional training
in a way which is more oriented to the actual needs of the labour market.”
Nevertheless, Slovakia is still an attractive business location. 84 percent
of the companies surveyed would repeat their investment under the current
conditions, Halt added.
According to Halt, investors appreciate Slovakia’s membership in the
European Union and the eurozone; they are still satisfied with employees’
willingness to perform and their qualifications; and the tax burden is
considered to be relatively low.
Based on those surveys to monitor the attitudes of German investors in
Slovakia which the Slovak-German Chamber of Commerce has conducted in the past,
Halt suggested that there have been some significant changes of attitude, with
the most significant relating to the flexibility of the Labour Code.
“Satisfaction with its regulations has drastically declined in comparison to
last year’s results,” Halt said.
“The reason for this is that the economic crisis has forced a lot of German
companies to reduce production," Halt explained. "The Labour Code
doesn’t provide them with enough flexibility to adapt their level of employment
to the lower level of production. Short-term work could certainly help
employers to maintain a higher level of employment.”
Though the investors said they still appreciate the country’s tax system,
tax reforms in Bulgaria and Romania, which have introduced a flat tax system
with a low tax burden for companies, have decreased Slovakia’s international
competitiveness regarding taxation, according to Halt.
Furthermore, changes to Slovakia’s tax regime made during recent years have
complicated the initial flat tax system of 2004 a lot, said Josef
Altenburger, president of the Slovak-Austrian Chamber of Commerce, at a press
conference on April 16.
This is especially valid for tax treatment of the amortisation of goods,
company cars and company housing as well as unpaid receivables, said
Altenburger. Recent tax amendments have worsened the system as a whole and are
in contrast to international taxation standards.
Radovan Ďurana of the economic
think-tank the Institute of Economic and Social Studies (INESS) said that his
organisation has long pointed out the shortcomings of the payroll-tax system,
which he said complicates the creation of new jobs.
“Over the past three years, there
have been no changes to improve [the payroll-tax system] and unfortunately the
current situation does not give us reason to hope for any such changes in the
near future,” Ďurana told The Slovak Spectator. “Fundamental changes in the
payroll-tax system would directly affect public expenditure, but the current
government is still resisting these changes.”
Ďurana agrees that the high
payroll-tax burden, and the low level of law enforcement in combination with
the slow action of courts, is lowering the attractiveness of the Slovak
business environment.
There is also one factor which has become more attractive since last year,
according to Halt.
“The availability of skilled workers has improved. This is due to the mass
layoffs during the crisis, of course,” Halt said.
As for the steps that governments should take during times of economic
crisis to maintain the attractiveness of the business environment, Halt
suggests that experience from previous economic crises in the 1970s and 1980s
has proved that expansionary monetary and fiscal policies are ineffective.
“As long as the expectations of market players don’t improve, governments
can spend as much money as they want, but all in vain,” Halt said. “First of
all, governments need to gain trust. Most important is to increase the scope
for economic activity in the private sector.”
This can be achieved by removing structural deficits, he added. Reducing
bureaucracy in day-to-day-business, lowering the burden of taxes and duties,
arranging a flexible labour law or an effective educational system (if
necessary) and consolidating public budgets are all reasonable options for
governments, Halt concluded.
“[The government] should prepare a
plan to reform the payroll-tax system, with the goal of lowering the tax burden
on labour; then [it should] ease the Labour Code, which would increase the
flexibility of the labour market and make the creation of new jobs simpler,”
Ďurana said.
The
Slovak Spectator, 27 Apr 2009 Beata
Balogová
