Oecd Economic Surveys - Slovak Republic 2019

Basic Statistics of Slovak Republic, 2017
Executive summary
Key Policy Insights
	Macroeconomic conditions continue to improve
		The economy is growing strongly
		The financial sector is stable, but increasing household debt poses a risk
		Healthy public finances should be preserved
			Fiscal consolidation is appropriate, despite spending needs
			Medium-term planning
		Sustaining environmentally friendly growth
	Improving the quality of public services and facilitating access will improve well-being for all citizens
		Improving the effectiveness of tax collection
		The judicial system needs to be further improved
			Dealing with perceptions of corruption
		Skills in public administration
		Access to public services for disadvantaged groups
	Enhance policies to develop workforce skills
		Improving education outcomes should be a priority
			Teachers need better qualifications, better training and better conditions to improve educational outcomes
		Promoting life-long learning
			Growing shortages of skilled labour coincide with high long-term unemployment
		Attracting foreign and Slovak migrants
		Enhancing gender equality in the labour market
	Enable entrepreneurship and innovation to support long-term growth
		Regulation
		Research and innovation
	Bibliography
Annex. Progress in structural reform
Thematic chapters
	Chapter 1.  Enhancing the social integration of Roma
		Roma in the Slovak Republic face extreme levels of social exclusion
			Demographic trends underline the importance of Roma integration
				Roma integration is an investment for the whole society
		Access to public policies should be strengthened
			The education system should become more inclusive
				Expanding participation in pre-school education
				Providing support to low performers and disadvantaged schools
				Attracting the best teachers to disadvantaged schools
				Addressing language barriers
				Tackling segregation
			Improving labour market access
				Roma often participate in public works schemes
				Support for the long-term unemployed should be strengthened
			Improving living conditions
				Formalisation of property rights should be a priority
				Support home improvements
			Access to health care should be bolstered
				Health-care services are available but are used less by Roma
				Community health workers could help to overcome information barriers
				Additional financial support is needed to improve access to health services
			Promoting financial inclusion in the Roma communities
		A holistic policy approach is needed to address Roma exclusion effectively
			The current framework goes in the right direction, but could take a more systematic approach
			Stronger coordination of policies for Roma communities is needed
			More trained Roma personnel are needed
			Addressing the attitudes of the general population
		Bibliography
			Annex 1.A. Data on Roma
	Chapter 2.  Increasing the benefits of Slovakia’s integration in global value chains
		Strong and successful integration into global value chains is positive for growth and living standards
			Slovakia has benefited from its strong integration into global value chains
			The benefits of the integration process have fallen since the 2008-09 crisis
			An improvement in the quality of Slovakia’s role in GVCs would be useful
				Slovakia\'s benefits from participating in GVCs are limited by its downstream positioning in value chains
				Local firms seem to have reaped little benefit from foreign company know-how
				The country seems insufficiently prepared for the increasing digitalisation and automation of the economy
				Production and exports are concentrated in very few manufacturing industries
		Promoting policies designed to increase and leverage integration into GVCs
			A broad range of well-coordinated reforms is needed
			Improving the skills of the work force
				Facilitating immigration of skilled workers
				Improving education
			Promoting research and innovation
			Enhancing the business environment and the quality of regulation
			Improving transport infrastructure
				Failings of the transport system
				The management of transport infrastructure need to become more efficient
					Improving project selection procedures
					Increasing the quality of rail and road transport
		Bibliography
		Blank Page