Today, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, attended the award ceremony of the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for outstanding business and entrepreneurial achievements. He stressed that all those who have received the awards had several factors in common: an emphasis on technology, timely investment, innovation, and collaboration with science.
(Photo: Grega Wernig/Salomon 2000)
According to the PM, the companies and individuals awarded had demonstrated excellence in business and, in line with the standards set by the CCIS, represent the best the Slovenian economy currently has to offer. "The path has not been easy. Sometimes success needed to be achieved in the abnormal conditions of the non-market system. Later, the loss of traditional markets demanded, almost literally, an overnight adaptation to new markets and the tackling of fierce competition from the West. The Slovenian business community has proved that danger can be transformed into opportunity, and unstable conditions turned to a common good," said the PM.
This is also the main reason Slovenia has achieved great results. Mr Janša stressed that after a decade and a half of independence, it is safe to say that Slovenia has made progress and is approaching the more developed countries. At the moment, Slovenia has the most favourable balance between economic growth, inflation and employment. Exporting companies are recording excellent results, and last year, economic growth amounted to 5.2 per cent, which is very good. It is safe to expect that the final calculation of GDP for 2006, measured in terms of purchasing power, will exceed €20,000 per capita, which was unimaginable ten years ago.
Mr Janša also said that while Slovenia has successfully adopted the euro as the first of the new member states, it was crucial that the country had managed to keep inflation low in the first months following the changeover. In comparison to the first two months of 2006, the prices of consumer goods in the same period of 2007 actually fell.
In the latest joint assessment report on reforms in EU member states by the European Commission, and the European Business, only two countries rank above Slovenia, while six are on a comparable level, and the rest are below. The PM stressed that this was Slovenia's best placement by far.
Slovenia's Development Strategy, which was adopted at the beginning of this government's term in the office, and the ensuing Resolution on National Development Projects for the Period 2007-2013, present Slovenia's Lisbon Strategy. According to the PM, the package of 35 main development projects, with a total value of nearly €24 billion, is a great development opportunity for all sectors of the Slovenian economy.
"Ahead of us lie a number of challenges and opportunities. In fact, the time before us could be termed Slovenia's development challenge. If we consider only the achievements of the people in this hall, in particular those of you who have received awards, we have no reason to fear that we might not be able to overcome them," concluded Mr Janša.
