the late-2000s recession, and in 2009 created the most GDP growth of all countries in the EU. The Polish economy had not entered recession nor contracted. According to Poland's Central Statistical Office, in 2011 the Polish economic growth rate was 4.3%, the best result in the entire EU. The largest component of its economy is the service sector (67.3%), followed by industry (28.1%) and agriculture (4.6%). Since increased private investment and EU funding assistance, Poland's infrastructure has developed rapidly. Poland's main industries are mining, machinery (cars, buses, ships), metallurgy, chemicals, electrical goods, textiles, and food processing. The high-technology and IT sectors are also growing with the help of investors such as Google, Toshiba, Dell, GE, LG, and Sharp. Poland is a producer of many electronic devices and components. Slovakia The smallest, but still considerably powerful V4 economy is that of Slovakia (GDP of US$209.186 billion total, 68th in the world). Demographics The population is 64,301,710 inhabitants, which would rank 22nd largest in the world and 4th in Europe (similar in size to France, Italy or the UK) if V4 were a single country. The most populated country in the group is Poland (38 million), followed by the Czech Republic (∼11 million), Hungary (∼10 million), and Slovakia (5.5 million). V4 capitals Warsaw (Poland) – 1,790,658 inhabitants (metro – 3,105,883) Budapest (Hungary) – 1,779,361 inhabitants (metro – 3,303,786) Prague (Czech Republic) – 1,318,688 inhabitants (metro – 2,647,308) Bratislava (Slovakia) – 432,801 inhabitants (metro – 659,578) Current leaders Initiatives International Visegrád Fund The International Visegrád Fund (IVF) is the only institutionalized form of regional cooperation of the Visegrád Group countries. The main aim of the fund is to strengthen the ties among people and institutions in Central and Eastern Europe through giving support to regional non-governmental initiatives. Defence cooperation Visegrád Battlegroup On 12 May 2011, Polish Defence Minister Bogdan Klich said that Poland will lead a new EU Battlegroup of the Visegrád Group. The decision was made at the V4 defence ministers' meeting in Levoča, Slovakia, and the battlegroup became operational and was placed on standby in the first half of 2016. The ministers also agreed that the V4 militaries should hold regular exercises under the auspices of the NATO Response Force, with the first such exercise to be held in Poland in 2013. The battlegroup included members of V4 and Ukraine. Another V4 EU Battlegroup was formed in the second semester of