Chapter 5: Slovakia
(continued)
Sixty percent of interviewees preferred to buy foreign environmental technologies from a local in-country representative, while 40 percent would buy directly from the producer abroad.
Good value for money, good after-sales service, and user-friendly design were mentioned by 30 percent to 40 percent of respondents. Interestingly, several interviewees noted that an extended warranty period was a strength of foreign technologies in comparison with domestic products.
Available credit or preferential financing was identified as a significant advantage by about a third of respondents. To that end, a comment was made that state-controlled prices in the energy and water utilities sectors do not allow for the repayment of effective, but expensive, foreign environmental technologies. However, price regulations are gradually being lifted, and utilites are expected to move towards market prices. Therefore, ideally, the preferential financing package should allow deferment of payments until the utility pricing policy is based on the actual production costs.
Not a single respondent indicated low price as an advantage of foreign products.
Some 30 percent of interviewees observed that little information is available about foreign suppliers, while 50 percent noted the lack of reliable product information as a barrier. These concerns should be relatively easy to solve through better marketing.
One in three respondents specified difficulties with ensuring authorized technical service and maintenance as a significant barrier. Interestingly, a similar proportion of interviewees identified this area as a strength of foreign products compared to domestic competitors. At any rate, in the long term, ensuring a reliable technical service should be one of the priority areas for foreign suppliers.
Other obstacles did not appear very important. 20 percent of experts indicated that products were not suitable for local conditions and technical culture. Other difficulties, identified by approximately 10 percent of the respondents, included communication problems with a foreign supplier and changing environmental regulations.
In conclusion, since the high price of foreign technologies is the biggest barrier to purchase, to increase sales foreign suppliers should concentrate on providing an attractive financing package. One comment made frequently by respondents was that high prices would not be such a major hurdle if it were possible to pay for environmental technology, at least partially, during its effective use.
