NEWS
Prime Minister attended 41st annual consultation of members of cooperatives
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Alenka Bratušek, attended 41st consultations of members of cooperatives. In her opening address she emphasised that she sincerely respected the role of farmers and cooperatives in caring for the environment and rural areas and supplying the population with high quality domestic food, adding that food security ensured through a stable food production and provision of quality and affordable food to the consumer is one of key strategic objectives of the Slovenian agriculture.
Within the consultation of members of cooperatives, the Prime Minister said: "I am pleased to note that people are more and more aware of the fact that domestic food is of the best quality. We consumers are increasingly looking for Slovenian food products. We appreciate more and more food products whose path from farm to fork was taken in close vicinity. We have to encourage such confidence and continue to strengthen it by joining our efforts. Slovenian products are of top quality on a global scale and reach excellence which we have to be especially proud of – we have something that not every country has."
At the end of her address, the Prime Minister added that she was aware of the fact that agriculture and food-processing industry are facing serious challenges. "On the one hand, they are a result of the global economic crisis that had a negative effect on the development of these industries; on the other hand, they are a result of climate change that has a strong impact on us. Unfortunately, we have recently experienced it when the natural disaster paralysed the country and took its toll. However, we, together and united, coped with this situation; therefore, we were able to provide help to all those affected in a relatively short time. If there are more of us and if we join forces, we are also stronger. In this sense, I believe that in the field of agriculture, we could achieve higher self-sufficiency and increase the presence in both domestic and foreign markets by forging stronger links and cooperating more closely," said the Prime Minister.