NEWS
Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek at Maribor Start up show of young entrepreneurs: "You are allowed to fail, the Government is not. There are no resits for us."
After her visit to Maribor Municipality, the Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek also paid a visit to Danica Vogrinec Residential Home for the Elderly where she met with the residents and the Director, who acquainted her with the conditions in the residential home and the development challenges pursued by its management. Then she went to see the Centre for Alternative and Autonomous Production, where she stopped at the shop, the laboratory and the premises of associations operating within the Centre. The Prime Minister concluded her visit to Maribor by taking part in the young entrepreneurs show Start Up Slovenia, where she intervened as a speaker of honour and proclaimed the winner. Before the award ceremony, Alenka Bratušek said to young entrepreneurs that "the diversity of areas dealt with by the awarded young entrepreneurs shows that entrepreneurial business opportunities can be seen at every step of the way, from the home garden to the hotel house-keeping; in this respect, it is only necessary to closely watch everyday life processes and try to make them better. And making our everyday life better concerns us politicians, too."
Later on, the Prime Minister said that politicians are rarely "entrusted with the opportunity of making an entrepreneurial innovation, but rather with handling crisis management." In Prime Minister's words, the situation of the Government in this perspective is quite specific, since the Government team set itself its own time limits; severe crisis calls for daring solutions within one year's time, with no possibility of resit. "We simply must not fail. In your everyday work, particularly now when you are starting up, the risk constitutes integral part of success: reasonable risk which, however, remains a risk. And if you fail, you may try again. I envy you for this and admire, in a certain way. The presence of beauty and persuasiveness of true entrepreneurial ideas fills us with sincere joy on seeing people who still try to work well for the people. Not just for themselves, but also for other people. This is what politics should be according to its original democratic definition: from the people for the people," concluded by saying the Prime Minister.
In addition, the Prime Minister talked to young entrepreneurs about entrepreneurship-friendly politics: "Incentives to creative industries, friendly tax environment, organised joint actions on the promising foreign markets, open school system, relentless investments in R&D supported also from the budget and not solely entrepreneurial – these are the elements that I see on the Slovenia 2020 horizon." At the end of her address, the Slovenian Prime Minister promised that on the occasion of her first official visit abroad, accompanied with strong business delegation, she would also invite the winner of tonight's show.