Meeting of the CNIC Board of Directors with the Deputy Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Veronika Remišová

At the beginning of October, the rector of UPJŠ in Košice, prof. RNDr. Pavol Sovák, CSc. welcomed the members of the Board of Directors of the Cassovia New Industry Cluster (CNIC) and the delegation of the Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic (MIRRI SR) on the premises of the Rector’s Office. The meeting was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic and Minister MIRRI SR, Mgr. art. Veronika Remišová, ArtD., M.A., Ing. Dušan Velič, DrSc., State Secretary of MIRRI SR, JUDr. Ján Magušin, Director of the Minister’s Office and other representatives of the Ministry from the Communication Department and by the CNIC partners – prof. RNDr. Pavol Miškovský, DrSc., Chairman of the Board of CNIC, Mgr. Roman Oros, Head of the CNIC Business and Marketing Center, doc. JUDr. Renáta Bačárová, PhD., LL.M., Head of the CNIC Center for Technology Transfer, prof. Ing. Radovan Hudák PhD., Vice-Rector of the Technical University in Košice, doc. MVDr. Mangesh Bhide, PhD. Head of the Laboratory of Biomedical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, prof. RNDr. Peter Samuely, DrSc., Vice-Chairman of the Slovak Academy of Sciences for Science, Research and Innovation, Ján Slávik, MBA, General Director of L. Pasteur University Hospital Košice, Mgr. Marcel Gibóda, Deputy Mayor of the City of Košice, Ing. Rastislav Trnka, Chairman of the Košice Self-governing region, Ing. Dominik Hakulin, PhD., Managing director of Cassovia Discovery Park s.r.o. and Ing. Jaroslav Polaček, Mayor of the City of Košice.

Prof. Miškovský presented to the representatives of the Ministry the vision, goals and sustainability of the Cassovia New Industry Cluster project. The project was consulted and positively evaluated by experts from the Joint Research Centre in Brussels and the World Bank. The main goal of the CNIC is to shift the economic level of the whole region to a double level (50%). The emphasis is on “deep technology”, but also Social sciences and quality of life.

“Close cooperation between universities and the private sector will not only prevent the brain drain from leaving the young people but will also attract new people to the region. We want to create such conditions that not only Slovak but also foreign companies come here. CNIC is a cross-cutting project and touches on all areas covered in Modern and Successful Slovakia, namely science, research and innovation, green economy, health, education and digitization. The goal of Slovakia is to get to the group of so-called strong innovators, and this is one of the main goals of the CNIC, “said prof. Miškovský.

“Innovation in the regions is extremely important to us and we perceive universities as a ‘driver’ of innovation. I am convinced that thanks to this project, Košice is the best place to become an innovative leader in Slovakia. It is important that the private sector is also actively involved in the CNIC, “said Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Veronika Remišová.

“Currently, we have signed several Memoranda of Understanding and we have several other negotiations with companies. The breakthrough part of the agreements was to offer these companies the benefits of infrastructure rental, excellent research, and experts in the field in which we find penetration with the innovation program and we can save them costs, “said Mgr. Oros.

“Our contribution to the CNIC for the private sector is the construction of another center, which is currently under construction. In this phase, we are already occupied by 60% of new companies that will operate in this region and contribute to the growth of new cities and GDP. Our goal is to obtain the necessary infrastructure so that we can provide it to the companies for which they came here, “stressed Dr. Hakulin of Cassovia Discovery Park.

In conclusion, rector of UPJŠ in Košice, prof. Sovák stated: “Intensive negotiations are currently underway The Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic, Ministry of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic, the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic. Only through joint efforts, public-private partnerships and government support, we are able to meet the CNIC’s goals and move the region forward.