BRATISLAVA, Slovakia, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Slovakia attracted $608 million in foreign direct investment in the first half of 2004, official figures showed Thursday.
In 2003, foreign direct investment was $1.15 billion, significantly below the $5.7 billion recorded in 2002 that was a record year due to a wave of privatization projects.
The latest figures confirm a trend for solid but moderate foreign direct investment as privatization driven foreign direct investment recedes.
Slovakia has attracted strong interest from foreign investors in recent years because of political and economic reforms pushed by the country's center-right government.
For much of the 1990s the country was shunned by foreign investors frightened off by the authoritarian and corrupt rule of former Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar.
Since Meciar was voted out of office in 1998, Slovakia has made strenuous efforts to strengthen democracy. The government has also pushed radical economic reforms including, in January this year, flat rates of income, value added and corporate tax which all now stand at 19 percent.
