ts productivity the most by applying improved technology and processes to industry (Embassy of the Slovak Republic). However, foreign investment is required to continue modernizing industry and retraining workers (Slovakia.Org, Slovak Economy). Manufacturing is one of the key sectors in the Slovak Republic (Slovak.Org, Slovak Economy). Exports of manufactured products are responsible for almost one-fourth of total production (Embassy of the Slovak Republic). Manufactured goods range from assembly lines and consumer goods to large investment operations such as plant construction (Embassy of the Slovak Republic). Top manufacturers produce steel, petroleum products, machinery, chemical products, ceramics, processed food, and textiles (Embassy of the Slovak Republic).The fuel sector involves activities including coal mining, purchasing, transportation, and distribution of natural gas, crude oil, and gas recovery (Embassy of the Slovak Republic). The power sector includes generating electricity, distribution and sales of heat, and construction and assembly works (Embassy of the Slovak Republic). The Slovak Republics principal mineral resources are lead, copper, manganese, zinc, iron, and lignite (Slovakia.Org, Slovak Economy). Mining was unable to compete in the market economy after Communism fell in Czechoslovakia in 1989 (Slovakia.Org, Slovak Economy).Representing one-seventh of the total production in Slovakia, the metallurgical industry produces nearly five million tons of crude steel annually which is processed primarily into plates, strips, ingots, and seamless and non-seamless tubes (Embassy of the Slovak Republic). Because supply exceeds domestic consumption, one-third of metallurgical goods are exported (Embassy of the Slovak Republic). The chemical industry represents nearly 18% of the total industrial output in the Slovak Republic (Embassy of the Slovak Republic). Most plants are located in the capital of Bratislava (Em...
