Hardi Tamás - Tóth Károly (szerk.): Határaink mentén. A szlovák-magyar határtérség társadalmi-gazdasági vizsgálata (2008) (Somorja, 2009)
Esettanulmányok
Summary 225 come suppliers of the suppliers. This significant junction of automotive industry is a great motivation for the establishment of suppliers’ contacts, while the opening of the border allows the Hungarian businesses to locate to Slovakia easily. The economic opening to Slovakia also has a negative side, unfortunately. The entrepreneurs have to be very thoughtful, as it may happen that the partners in Hungary are not veiy keen on seeing a car with Slovak licence plate at a business meeting. This makes the image of the respective entrepreneur totally different. It is true, on the other hand that this negative discrimination may happen on the Slovakian side of the border as well. Business foundation in Hungary The Slovak companies too try to expand their economic activities to Hungary. The main reason for this effort is the demand for expanding the market, the acquisition of new markets. Coming from the bigger size of the market, Hungary is a significant potential market for the goods, so the Slovak companies - if they have products that are competitive on the Hungarian markets too - try to fill in the market gaps. An example to be mentioned is the Slovak-owned businesses operating in the Entrepreneurs’ House [Vállalkozók Háza] in Komárom in Hungary, trying to serve the Hungarian market. Another motivation of the Slovak businesses may be the bigger purchasing power of the Hungarian market; in Hungary the prices are higher, e.g. higher profit can be realised. In the western area of the Slovak—Hungarian border the market is easier to access than in the eastern part of the countries, because in addition to Bratislava the Győr-Esztergom region too has a significant concentration of inhabitants, not to mention Budapest and its agglomeration. From the other side of the border it is typically those with Hungarian mother tongue who come to Hungary. As in the north-western part of Hungary there is a growing shortage of skilled labour, the foreign businesses located here (e.g. Nokia, Suzuki) attract masses of relatively weak Slovak labour force. The role of labour recruitment agencies in this process in unquestionable. At the same time, despite the large number of commuters across the border it is less typical that masses of Slovakian businesses locate to Hungary, the main reason for which is the much less business friendly environment in Hungary than in Slovakia. It is only worth for a Slovak company locating to Hungary if they can become suppliers to a multinational corporation operating in Hungary; however, a company does not need to found a new business to expand its markets, as they can serve the other side of the border from the existing locations too. Finally we have to remark that the opening towards the Hungarian areas cannot only mean competitive advantages in manufacturing but also in the field of receiving finances. Investment willingness, economic movements An ever increasing intensification of the economic movements can be seen - as we have mentioned earlier -, nevertheless the number of investors on the other side of the border is still low, there has not been and still there is no mass re-location. The primitive accumulation of capital is a process just going on in the region, which means that the businesses do not possess enough finances. The Slovak—Hungarian capital is not competitive; there are no mass investments by this capital. However, parallel to the strengthening of the small and medium-sized enterprises, there will be more and more foreign direct investments. These days these movements are rather one-way movements, to Slovakia — due to the favourable Slovak economic environment. Presently there are almost thirty Slovakian companies engaged in business foundation and car purchase for Hungarian citizens, typically
