Slovakia
Slovakia adopted the Euro currency on 1 January 2009 as the 16th member of the Eurozone. The euro in Slovakia was approved by the European commission on 7 May 2008. The Slovak koruna was revalued on 28 May 2008 to 30.126 for 1 euro, which was also the exchange rate for the euro.
Slovakia is an attractive country for foreign investors mainly because of its low wages, low tax rates and well educated labour force. In recent years, Slovakia has been pursuing a policy of encouraging foreign investment. FDI inflow grew more than 600% from 2000 and cumulatively reached an all-time high of $17.3 billion in 2006, or around $22,000 per capita by the end of 2008.
Czech koruna
In 1892, the Austro-Hungarian krone replaced the gulden, at the rate of one gulden equaling two kronen (which is also the reason why the 10-koruna coin is still nicknamed "pětka" or "the five" by the Czechs). The name ""krone"" was invented by the emperor, Franz Joseph I of Austria. After Austria-Hungary dissolved in 1918, the only successor state that kept the name of the currency, the koruna, was Czechoslovakia. In the late 1920s, the Czechoslovak koruna was the hardest currency in Europe. During the Second World War, the currency on the occupied Czech territory was artificially weakened. The Czechoslovak koruna was restored after the war. It underwent a highly controversial monetary reform in 1953.