FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS AND THEIR IMPACT ON SOCIO - ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE REGIONS OF SLOVAKIA

Foreign direct investments play a significant role in the overall development of the regions. Direction of investments to less developed regions brings synergies for the whole economy. Foreign investors are usually the biggest employers in the regions and through their co-operation with small and medium-sized enterprises; they provide secondary employment and growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in the respective regions. These secondary effects play are important in the development of the economy and hence the support of foreign direct investments becomes vital of government policies. There are multiple instruments to support foreign investors and these are part of the overall strategy to improve the business environment. The paper aims to demonstrate the impact of the foreign direct investments on GDP generation in the individual regions of Slovakia. In the paper, we follow the development of FDIs and GDP based on the time series method. The outcomes of the analysis show the direct correlation between FDI and GDP. The impact of FDI on the social and economic development of regions is analysed on the basis of correlation analysis. The results of the correlation analysis are presented in the conclusions of the paper. It is important, however, to take into account that there other factors having an influence on the economic growth and generation of GDP.