ABSTRACT
Global business services (GBS) is an important sector of the economy in the Bratislava region. After the regime change in 1989, Slovakia’s capital became an attractive place for multinational corporations investing in this sector owing to the availability of low-cost skilled labour with good language skills. After joining the EU, the free movement of people and capital within the EU, and the introduction of the euro boosted the region’s appeal by reducing transaction costs for international firms. Nevertheless, Bratislava was not capable of attracting as many GBS firms as other Visegrad Group (V4) cities, mainly due to its smaller size. In the region, the first phase of GBS investment was dominated by IT-oriented centres, with financial services gradually coming to the forefront. Moreover, the city is slowly losing its competitive edge and, as a result, the sector’s expansion is gradually slowing down. All things considered, the region’s capacity to deliver a skilled workforce to the sector, particularly in the context of the deployment of 4.0 technologies, will be very important for its future development.
