for future purposes. policy team EU funding!! Sponsor: PwC From 8:30 12:00 Chamber of

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1 As we do every month, we would like to inform you about some of the most important AmChamm activities. PROFILES OF NEW MEMBERS As our Membership Directory is published only once a year, you may want to include these companies in your y directory for future purposes. ASBIS SK Patron Member Aupark Patron Member Austria Trend Hotel Management Slovakiaa General Member Children of Slovakia Foundation Non-Profit Member Letisko Košice Corporate Member This link brings you to a Membership Area requiringg your company s password! If you do not have it orr have lost it, please contact the AmChamm office. Manage your company information, addd or update your contact preferences for your partners, memberss of AmCham anytime at To check your current information and profile, log in to the Membership Area. Login requires your company s password, so if you have lost or forgotten it, please contact the AmCham A office. 2013: AMCHAM YEAR OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT In light of the AmCham s FDI strategy, the fact that Košice iss the European Capital of Culture in 2013 as well as the fact that AmCham s Kosice Office is celebrating its 10 th Anniversary, AmChamm will dedicate this year to regional development. For more information, please clickk here. We now offer a unique opportunity for one of our member m companies to become a patron sponsor of the Year of f Regional Development! If you are interested, pleasee contact our policy team at policy@amcham.sk UPCOMING EVENTS Tuesday, February 12, 2013 Business Breakfast in Košice: Don t miss the last chance for EU funding!! Sponsor: PwC From 8:30 12:00 Hotel Yasmin, Košice Tuesday, February 12, 2013 Speed Business Meeting Organized by: American Chamber of Commerce in the Slovak Republic, the Slovak-Austrian Chamber of

2 Commerce, the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in the Slovak Republic and the Italian-Slovak Chamber of Commerce From 3 PM 6 PM Hotel Park Inn Danube, Bratislava Registration: events@amcham.sk Thursday, February 14, 2013 Business Breakfast with Minister of Justice, Tomáš Borec on Civil Code Recodification & Law Enforcement Main Partner: PRK Partners From 8.30 AM 11:00 AM Radisson Blu Carlton, Bratislava AmCham Speakers: Daniel Géč, Chairman of AmCham Civil Code Task Force; Miriam Galandová, Member of AmCham Civil Code Task Force Registrations: breakfast@amcham.sk Tuesday, February 26, 2013 Annual Job Fair in Košice From 9:00 AM 4.30 PM Hotel DoubleTree by Hilton Košice More information at: Tuesday, March 5, th Regional Tax Conference: The Future of Tax Collection in CEE under the auspices of Minister of Finance of the Slovak Republic, Peter Kažimír General Sponsors: IBM, Procter & Gamble, GE Radisson Blu Carlton, Bratislava From 9:00 AM Interested in sponsoring this event? Contact natalia.poliakova@amcham.sk Thursday, April 25, 2013 International Conference: Innovation Imperative: Slovakia s Future Organized by AmCham and Ministry of Foreign & European Affairs of the Slovak Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hlboká cesta 2, Bratislava From 9:00 AM Become our partner in shaping this conference! For more information, contact: policy@amcham.sk April 18 April 20, 2013 GLOBSEC 2013 Regional Security Forum in Central Eastern Europe With the participation level of around 500 key security and foreign policy figures from both sides of the Atlantic, GLOBSEC has become the leading annual forum on security and foreign policy in the region of Central Europe AmCham is now a co-organizer of the GLOBSEC Business Forum! Don t miss your chance and become a partner of this unique regional event! For more information, contact: anna.michalkova@amcham.sk We would like to inform you that you can register for AmCham events on our website More events are being planned and will be on our website as they are finalized. PAST EVENTS Tuesday, January 15, 2013 Workshop on Transform your company for growth! Let EU-supported innovative technologies boost your business!

3 Main partner: Centire Historická radnica, Banská Bystrica Thursday, January 17, 2013 Business Breakfast with Minister of Economy, Tomáš Malatinský on New Energy Legislation Main partner: SPP AmCham Speakers: Milan Veselý, Chairman of AmCham Energy Committee; Henrich Krejčí, Member of AmCham Energy Committee Monday, January 28, 2013 Seminar on Changes in Tax Legislation Organized by Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Slovakia Sponsors: Ernst & Young, VGD-AVOS Tax Tuesday, January 29, 2013 Workshop English Training: Yes or No? Partners: Class Jazyková škola, ETS Global Wednesday, January 30, 2013 Business Seminar on Effective Management of HR Processes Košice event Sponsors: SOITRON, Microsoft Thursday, January 31, 2013 Conference of Migration Flows Management High Skilled Migrants in Slovakia Main Partner: Society Development Institute Sponsors: DELL, CoMiDe Media Partners: TA3, Zoznam Presentations and pictures from past AmCham events can be found at: AMCHAM IN THE MEDIA On January 1, 2013, Hospodarske noviny celebrated their 20 th anniversary. The Executive Director of AmCham, Jake Slegers, was also one of the well-wishers. Read his wishes here. AmCham is a member of the Advisory Body of Digital Champion, Peter Pellegrini (State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance). Read more about the digital agenda and the advisory body in a Trend article from January 9, 2013, here. The prices of electricity in Slovakia are among the highest in the EU! This message resonated at a business breakfast with Minister of Economy, Malatinsky, on January 17, 2013, and it was also covered by various media, including: SITA, 24hod.sk, Webnoviny, Hospodarske noviny, Pravda, Trend, Radio Lumen and STV. The proposed Act on Incentives can have a very negative impact on Slovakia s competitiveness. AmCham issued a position paper, which was sent to relevant stakeholders at the Ministry of Economy and in the parliament. The statement was cited several times also in the media on January 30 February 2, including aktualne.sk, SME, webnoviny, 24hod.sk, aktuality.sk and topky.sk AmCham s Conference on Migration Flows Management Highly Skilled Migrants in Slovakia, which took place on January 31, 2013, also got coverage in some of the mainstream media, including TA3, STV, euractiv.sk & zoznam.sk

4 POLICY UPDATES Business-Academic Cooperation Committee AmCham Committee on Business-Academic Cooperation met on January 30, 2013 in order to set the goals for 2013 and in order to specify 2-3 main priorities from the solutions produced by our AmCham Year of Education Initiative in AmCham representatives should meet State Secretary Stefan Chudoba in order to follow up with the Ministry of Education in SR, planning and agreeing on next steps with our solutions. According to the information from the Ministry of Education in SR, the government is planning to reform Vocational Education based on the dual education system in Germany. Discussions will start in April The next meeting of Business-Academic Cooperation Committee is planned for February 27, Activities: Member companies of AmCham successfully finalized the winter semester at the Economic University in SR. The course: American Business Culture and Ethics was taught by PwC, BrandcomPR, US Steel and Philip Morris Slovakia. Thank you very much for your effort. HR Courses were taught again by representatives of DELL, HP, Lenovo, Sheraton and Slovak Telecom and were concluded at Hotel Sheraton. CSI Leasing, AmCham and US Embassy are again organizing Mentor Network Program in Kosice. Currently, we are in touch with universities in eastern part of Slovakia promoting and selecting the best students for the program. Civil Code Task Force The Civil Code Task Force will meet on February 5, 2013 in order to specify areas and talking points for the Business Breakfast with Minister of Justice in SR. The business breakfast will take place on February 14, 2013, and it will cover various topics, including rule of law and legal certainty and predictability. Data Protection Task Force The Task Force met on January 24, 2013, in order to discuss the recommendations and agenda for the digital champion as well as to discuss the updates on the EU regulation on data privacy, which is discussed at the European Parliament. The Task Force will update its position paper and send its recommendations to the digital champion. Employment and Social Affairs Committee The Committee s Migration & Mobility Task Force took part in the second round of the dispute procedure on the Act on the Residence of Foreign Aliens (which also amends the Employment Services Act). The negotiations took place on January 24, 2013 at the Ministry of Interior. The Task Force will now submit its new proposals to the involved stakeholders from state administration. As a follow up to the conference on Migration Flows Management, representatives of the Migration & Mobility Task Force will meet with the conference participants individually to discuss the specific suggestions presented in our position paper on employing foreigners: challenges and suggestions for improvement. Energy Committee The Committee met on January 9, 2013 to finalize its position on the framework of the Slovak Energy Policy and prepare for the business breakfast with the Minister of Economy. At the breakfast, which took place on January 17, 2013, AmCham emphasized not only its position towards the aforementioned framework, but also focused on the high electricity prices in Slovakia not only for industry, but also for the IT sector. As a follow up to the breakfast, we will now discuss our specific comments with the representatives of the energy sections of the Ministry of Economy.

5 EU Affairs Committee On February 19, 2013, the Committee will welcome State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Vazil Hudak at a working breakfast. We will discuss the latest developments in the Eurozone and other relevant financial topics. AmCham members will also have an opportunity to attend a business trip in Brussels on March 19 20, During the trip, we will meet with Slovak Members of European Parliament, Vice-President of the European Commission, Maros Sefcovic and we will offer our members a briefing on various topics currently discussed in the EU Commission and Parliament. FDI Committee Based on the negotiations with the Ministry of Economy in December 2012, several AmCham comments were incorporated in the Act on Incentives. However, some of the major changes proposed in the Act, which could have a very negative impact on Slovakia s competitiveness still remain in the Act. As a result, AmCham issued a statement, which was sent to the Minister of Economy, as well as other Ministry representatives, and members of the parliament. AmCham had additional meeting at the Ministry of Economy and will now communicate its position to the MPs. Healthcare Committee Next Committee meeting is planned for February 13, The meeting will discuss a comparison of pharma projects realization and linked legislation in USA, UK, The Netherlands and Slovakia. The guest speaker will be Mr. Kyslovic from Faculty of Pharmacy. Public Procurement Task Force The Task Force met on January 22, 2013 in order to discuss next steps regarding AmCham comments on the amendment of the Act on Public Procurement, which is currently discussed at the parliament. The Task Force is now prioritizing comments, to be further communicated with the Ministry of Interior and members of the parliament. Tax Committee On January 14, 2013 Christiana Serugova and Natalia Poliakova met Ms. Adriana Pleskova (Tax and Customs Section), Mr. Branislav Kusik (Advisor to Minister of Finance in SR on Tax Collection and Fight against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion) in order to discuss cooperation in terms of Tax Collection and Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion. This was the follow up meeting on the meeting with P. Pellegrini. We agreed on cooperation. On March 5, 2013 AmCham Slovakia will host the 8 th Regional TAX Conference in Slovakia under the auspices of Minister of Finance in SR. The conference will be opened by Prime Minister Robert Fico.

6 AMCHAM CONNECTION MAGAZINE The November/December issue on Corporate Responsibility & Philanthropy is available on our website! The January/February issue is coming up soon and will feature these topics: Real Estate Market / Energy. For more information contact our Editorial Team at connection@amcham.sk. AmCham Slovakia MONTHLY CALENDAR is a publication of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Slovak Republic. AmCham Slovakia is firmly committed to respecting your privacy. If you want to be removed from our distribution list, please respond to office@amcham.sk or (421-2) We do not share your information with any third party without your consent. For more information and news subscription please contact the AmCham office. BRATISLAVA OFFICE: Crowne Plaza, Hodžovo námestie 2, Bratislava, Slovak Republic; Tel: (+421-2) , Fax: (+421-2) ; office@amcham.sk KOŠICE OFFICE: Františkánska 5, Košice; Slovak Republic; Tel: ( ) ; Fax: ( ) ; kosice@amcham.sk