NEWS

Prime Minister Pahor attends the Crafts and Entrepreneurship Forum

The Prime Minister Borut Pahor today attended the Crafts and Entrepreneurship Forum organised by the Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre. In his address, the Prime Minister stressed that the Government fulfilled “most of the requests deemed by the Chamber as urgent for the business environment to be improved”. Mr Pahor asked craftsmen and entrepreneurs to provide their assistance in encouraging the public to support the act on prevention of illegal work and employment at the incoming referendum. In this act the Government took into account the requests made by craftsmen. “My hope is to be able to work together in convincing most people that this is an important issue in the fight against grey economy and in managing the labour market situation,” added Prime Minister Pahor.

   

Mr Pahor also described the dialogue exchanged between the Government and the Chamber as dynamic and one that is being conducted “in a spirit of mutual trust”. The Government had accepted the Chamber's suggestions and incorporated them into the relevant legislation, most of which, he added, had already been adopted by the Parliament. Discussions are already under way regarding amendments to the agriculture act, the personal income tax act – based on the principle ‘every receipt counts’, and the employment relationship act. According to the Prime Minister, Slovenia is recovering after the crisis and is currently experiencing positive growth. However, the growth is still slow, which is in part due to problems experienced in the construction sector. In order to improve the situation, the Government is currently drafting a number of reform laws and is determined to see them implemented. “This Government’s commitment to reforms remains unrelenting,” reaffirmed Prime Minister Pahor, adding that if the necessary reforms in 2011 and 2012 are adopted, Slovenia would join Germany and France; if not, it would face the same situation as Ireland and Portugal.