People should ask for Slovak-made products in shops, say those behind the 'Buy Slovak made' event, running this week. In October last year, the national day to promote Slovak-made products involved more than a million people, however this year the campaign has been expanded to run for the whole week; from October 10 to October 16. The event, now in its third year, aims at promoting the sale of Slovak-made products and boosting the Slovak economy.
"The goal is to encourage citizens. We want to firmly tell them, that now's the time to take an active interest; to go to shops and actively search for products, to order food that's made in Slovakia. If this is repeated in the following week, it would quickly become a part of our daily routines," said the author of the project and chairperson of the civic association Kvalita z našich regiónov (Quality from our regions) Bohumila Tauchmannová at a press conference in Bratislava. She stressed that the event concerns all Slovak-made items and brands, from food to industry, including products and services.
According to a survey in September by the polling agency GfK only 41% of Slovak citizens feel that shops have sufficient Slovak products on offer. "Compared to last year, this share has decreased by 2 percentage points. Slovak citizens perceive that there should be more Slovak products on the shop shelves," stated GfK commercial director Rastislav Kočan.
92% of those polled would like to see a uniform "Made in Slovakia" logo, however almost 40% of all respondents believe that the 'Buy Slovak made' campaign is focused solely on foodstuffs and not towards other industrial products. The 'Buy Slovak made' project is supported by the Association of Towns and Municipalities (ATVS).
