Kalinak: Slovakia's High Level of Defence Industry Also Lures Other Countries

Baku, May 7 (TASR-correspondent) - Slovakia has long been known for its high level of heavy and especially defence industry and many countries therefore want to cooperate with Slovakia in this area, stressed on Tuesday Defence Minister Robert Kalinak, who is part of the delegation of Prime Minister Robert Fico (both Smer-SD) on an official visit to Azerbaijan. On this occasion, Kalinak signed several documents on mutual cooperation. "These memorandums are also about giving us the opportunity to develop our defence industry in cooperation with Azerbaijani industry. In some cases it is a direct contract or direct ordering, in other cases it is about technology transfer, about exporting those capabilities that we have, the status of joint ventures," said the minister, adding that this will also help Slovakia's economic growth. According to him, it's too early to talk about specific contracts. So far, areas of possible cooperation have been defined. Kalinak stated that the mutual talks revealed that Azerbaijan is interested in building a complete technological base for heavy industry, in which Slovakia has long-standing experience. Thus, there is room for Slovak experts in this field. am/mcs