Juraj Blanár, Slovakia’s Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, spoke to CGTN Europe about strengthening Slovakia-China relations, focusing on trade and cultural cooperation.
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00:00Slovakia is looking to increase trade and cultural links with China, especially as China
00:04and the EU mark 50 years of diplomatic ties.
00:07Slovakia's Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said dialogue is vital in an era of Trump
00:13protectionism.
00:15He spoke to CGTN's Li Jinwa.
00:18Slovakia can be so-called a gateway for the Chinese to the European Union.
00:23We have some experience already from other countries which started to do the business
00:29in the European Union, especially in Slovakia.
00:34And the last visit of our Prime Minister with many ministers to China was remarkable for
00:42many reasons.
00:43We want to strengthen our cooperation, not only on trade, but also the cultural, educational
00:52level and also people to people, which is very important.
00:57So this year we will host the first ever intergovernmental coordination committee, for example.
01:06And we will also set up the working group for investment and economic cooperation between
01:12Slovakia and China.
01:14And also we would like to easing the issuing the visa for special Chinese group doing the business
01:24or investment in Slovakia.
01:26So we are expecting closer trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.
01:32Have you ever faced any pressure from your EU partners given that you have been deepening economic
01:39engagement with China and do you think it's very much of a balancing act for you?
01:44From the political point of view, of course, there are some discrepancies because some countries
01:49are very, let's say, in a different position as we are.
01:54But from the trade point of view, I think there is a very mutual understanding that the China is
02:02very strategic partner for Slovakia and also European Union.
02:07And of course, the problem is that the EU China deficit is more than 300 billion.
02:15So what we want to do is just rebalance this deficit and to find a mutual and fair cooperation.
02:24There is another very important sign, I mean the positive sign, that the foreign direct investment
02:30from China to European Union is something like 180 billion of euro.
02:39But why versus all, also the foreign direct investment from the EU countries to China, in China, it's
02:46also 180 billion of euro.
02:50That means both sides understand that we are a very important strategic partner.
02:56So you mean both parties are aware of the context when it comes to foreign direct investment.
03:02But let's talk about China and Slovakia's bilateral investment.
03:06They do have common ground in green transition.
03:09One of the examples is Golshan Hitek's investment to the country is worth about 1.3 billion US dollars.
03:15It's one of the largest investments the country has earned in history.
03:20So how would you see this collaboration benefiting Slovakia and China?
03:26Slovakia is the leading country in producing passenger car per capita in the world.
03:32Now we have to transform to also EVs.
03:36And one very important part of this production is the batteries.
03:43And China is most developed with the technology of producing the batteries and Goshen is one of them.
03:54Slovakia was one of the five countries that voted against levering additional tariffs on Chinese made EVs.
04:01Let's say if tensions escalate, what consequences do you foresee?
04:06So this can harm very much our industry, but I'm still optimistic that we can manage.
04:16But we have many challenges on the Atlantic side as well with the US, as I explained.
04:22So this is something which is very important for future cooperation.
04:27We are living in a tough time.
04:30We are living in a tough time. We have two wars at this point.
04:33Also Donald Trump's return to the White House is reshaping global geopolitics.
04:39So where does Slovakia position itself?
04:43Our position is very clear. We would like to have a very good and open relation with every stakeholder when it comes to the political relation and also trade relation.
04:56The US is an important strategic partner for Slovakia as well.
05:00Our trade turnover is 5 billion of euro and 75% of this export from Slovakia is coming from the automotive as we already mentioned.
05:15So we would like to be in touch in close dialogue with the US and negotiate our interest bilaterally and also multilaterally from the European Union level.
05:31We had the F acordo with the European Union level.
05:32Thank you every day.
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