Slovakia and China to cooperate in transport and energy

Slovakia has started cooperation with China in railway cargo transport and the two sides are talking about reviving relations in the energy sector. The Chinese side shows interest in cooperating with companies like the Nuclear Energy Research Institute (VUJE) and the Nuclear and Decommissioning Company (JAVYS). Bratislava has asked for an acceleration in the issuing of certificates for high-quality Slovak foodstuffs designated for exports, according to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD), speaking at the 6th summit of 16 Central and Eastern European countries and China. Slovak-Chinese trade currently stands at €5.86 billion. "The first cargo train from China in early November 2017 ended at the Dobra terminal (Košice region). I believe we have the capacity for several hundreds of cargo trains coming from China until the end of 2018, and if it goes on like this, Slovakia has a great geographical position that is extraordinarily important particularly for rail cargo transport from the eastern part of the world, i.e. from China, to Europe," stated the Slovak prime minister. Political relations between Slovakia and China became cooler about a year ago when Beijing did not like that Slovak President Andrej Kiska had a private meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.