Of the Slovenian Business Club in Serbia Welcome to Slovenia, a Beautiful Green Country at the Very Heart of Europe
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JUNE 2018 SLOVENIA No. 7 ISSN 2560-4465 Partners H.E. ZDRAVKO POČIVALŠEK, SLOVENIAN MINISTER OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY: PROMISING PARTNERSHIP ● MARKO ČADEŽ, PRESIDENT OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY OF SERBIA: WE’RE WORKING & PROGRESSING TOGETHER ● H.E. VLADIMIR GASPARIČ, AMBASSADOR OF SLOVENIA TO SERBIA: OUR COOPERATION IS CONSTANTLY IMPROVING ● DANIJELA FIŠAKOV, PRESIDENT OF THE SLOVENIAN BUSINESS CLUB: BOTH FORM & HEART ● M.SC. ZORAN LAZUKIĆ, PROFIL GROUP: A TRUE EXPERT ALWAYS FINDS WORK ● MIROSLAV PREŠERN, DIRECTOR, OVEN ELEKTRO MARIBOR D.O.O.: SMALL HYDRO PLANTS ARE THE FUTURE ● BRANKO GRAOVAC, SALES DIRECTOR AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER AT HALCOM: E-BUSINESS INCREASES PROFIT ● BRANKO GREGANOVIĆ, EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER, NLB BANKA: CLIENT TRUST IS OUR GREATEST GAIN FIRST 15 YEARS Of The Slovenian Business Club In Serbia Welcome to Slovenia, a beautiful green country at the very heart of Europe. Slovenia is certainly one of the greenest countries on the planet, leading in the field of sustainable tourism and the protection of cultural and natural wealth. Slovenia is the only country in the world that contains in its name the word love (sLOVEnia). According to an old folk saying, the sense of love connects all diversities of Slovenia. This real treasure of nature The quality of Slovenia’s of Slovenia’s natural spas untouched nature, peace and spreads from the Alps to the water abundance is reflected and thermal springs beneficial waters, dedicating north and northwest, Pohorje in the fertility of the land.. can boast a history dating all time to yourself as you seek to the northeast, the Panno- Slovenia has extraordinary the way back to the Ro- the path to inner balance nian plain to the east and wine- natural sources of mineral mans, medieval gentlemen, and good health. growing areas rich and thermal waters, with a the time of alchemists and in thermal waters to the centuries-old cultural the blooming of European The identity of the southeast. Forests cover al- tradition in the field of castles. Nowadays these spas Slovenian people is most two thirds of the care for the body and spirit are themselves castles, full inextricably linked to their country, with a third utilising its world-famous of love for their guests. Far culture and language. protected under the Natura 2000 waters that are rich in mag- from the urban bustle, you Ptuj, the oldest city in Slo- European Network project. nesium and calcium. Many can relax in the embrace of venia, has a long tradition of carnival celebrations medieval castle in Slovenia is a new star on When you experience under unique carnival masks. the country. Maribor, the the gastronomic map of the Slovenia’s pristine nature Ljubljana, the capital of Slo- second largest city in world. Excellent local with the seductive scent of venia, was restored by famous Slovenia, has the oldest ingredients, rich culinary fresh air, clean drinking wa- architect Jože Plecnik to be a wine in the world. Pred- tradition and endless ter and exquisite cuisine, you city dedicated to the people, jama Castle near Postojna creativity of world-renowned will want to return to this takingˇ care of the heritage of Cave, which celebrates its chefs like Ana Ros, fascinating oasis as soon the city’s long history. Bled 200th anniversary in 2018, is winner of the 2017 World’s as possible. offers a magnificent view of known as the largest cave Best Female Chef Award. Of the enchanting Alpine Lake castle in the world accord- course, the Slovenian gastro- and Gothic church on a fairy- ing to the Guinness Book of nomic story would not be tale island in the middle of Records. Slovenia boasts four complete without a glass of the lake. Piran, an enchant- UNESCO World Heritage authentic Slovenian wine. ing Mediterranean town Sites, including Škocjan Such perfect tastes await you Discover more with Venetian architecture Cave, with the world’s largest at every corner in Slovenia! about Slovenia: within its walls, boasts a underground canyon. These 700-year-old tradition of salt include protected mercury production. Celje is a city mines in Idrija, beech forests www.slovenia.info of counts, where the most in Krokar and Sneznik, and [email protected] powerful dynasty in Slove- the hidden WWII Partisan nian history built the largest hospital Franja. COMMENT Tradition & Technology Although strong historical and cultural links in business are important, cooperation between the two countries, both today and in the future, will depend largely on the extent to which their economies move in similar orbits within the global economy ommemorating the 15th anniversary of the estab- to us by the post-crisis recovery: in the places where the lishing of the Slovenian Business Club in Serbia clean-up of bad portfolios was harsher, as was plainly the provides a good reason to recall that, despite strong case in Slovenia, there is now robust growth that exceeds historical ties, the significant return of Slovenian the EU average. In Serbia, in contrast, economic growth is Ccompanies to the Serbian market in the early 2000s was relatively low not only in relation to the EU average, but neither easy nor assured. Indeed, although those links also in the regional framework. There are very few Serbian represent an indisputable asset that few investors possess companies that are competitive in global and regional con- on the Serbian market, it is worth noting that the Slovenian texts, and their development is insufficiently supported by companies that chose this market – with the exception of essential measures of systemic support. a few well-known major brands like Gorenje – are in fact In order to show the extent to which the relationship mostly new companies that didn’t exist during the time of between the two economies is dependent on given global the former Yugoslavia, and that they entered an economy circumstances, we will also note some data contained within of Serbia that had changed fundamentally following civil this publication: while Slovenia successfully combines exports war and transition. of products and services, Serbia – despite the fact that it has a higher share of production in gross value added than Germany and Slovenia, and that it has a high, While the Slovenian economy appears to be grappling above-average, share of exports (50%) compared solidly with the new reality of growing production of high- to Germany’s 44% of GDP – bases its success tech products and services, Serbia has yet to find an exit mainly on low-tech sectors, which – as observed from the unfavourable structure of its economy correctly by domestic commentators – is a key structural problem of our economy. On the contrary, according to Forbes, Slovenia’s What it is even more important to consider is that Jožef Stefan Institute is among the world’s leaders in Artificial cooperation between the two countries, today and in the Intelligence and Big data analytics, both knowledge and e- future, will depend largely on the extent to which their services. Slovenia has the largest number of AI & Robotics economies move in similar orbits within the global economy. researchers per capita in the world, with approximately one Here we will cite two examples from the recent past that researcher per 7,000 inhabitants. We do not have similar support this thesis: the first example was given to by the data for Serbia at our disposal, but we can quote one of the global financial crisis, which served in both Slovenia and members of this industry – Branko Milanović from company Serbia – to a greater or lesser extent – to remove from the Nordeus – who considers that Serbia has the potential to make business world all those that were not competitive, that a “quantum leap and skip the decades that it is lagging behind”. had low productivity or poor management structures, and Whether or not Serbia will succeed in that also depends on which were buried in loans. The second example was given the quality of the connections between the two economies. ■ 4 | BUSINESS PARTNER SLOVENIA 4 | BUSINESS PARTNER SLOVENIA BUSINESS PARTNER SLOVENIA | 5 INTERVIEW Promising Partnership H.E. ZDRAVKO POČIVALŠEK, SLOVENIAN MINISTER OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY As Serbia is adjusting to the regulatory requirements of the European market with determination, and EU accession is becoming a reality, Slovenia makes an ideal economic partner, given historical facts, the closeness of the market and knowledge of the language. lovenia is expected to see robust growth in 2018 and 2019, sectors, which account for an almost 75% share of exports, growth is driven mainly by private consumption; rising investments and highest in motor vehicle and trailer production, electrical equipment and strong external and domestic demand. What makes H.E. Zdravko other machinery and appliances, as well as in rubber production. Most Počivalšek, Slovenian Minister of Economic Development and market services will also continue to grow, while foreign demand will also STechnology, even more satisfied is the fact that the financial crisis made influence growth in transport, accommodation, food services and in some the Slovenian economy more robust and resilient. administrative and support services, as well as in tourism and ICT services. • How has the economy changed over the course of the financial crisis? • According to government estimates, what would be the optimal - The key problems faced by Slovenia’s economy following the outbreak structure in terms of production vs. services for the Slovenian econ- of the financial crisis were a decline in competitiveness, low productiv- omy, given the current trends of automation and digitisation? ity in relation to the EU average and high labour costs. We also faced - The share of manufacturing in Slovenia’s economy is already above the an increase in structural unemployment, while the quality of corporate EU average and above the EU goal for 2020, which is 20% (2016 - EU: management was falling and there was a huge discrepancy between 16.1%, SI: 20.1%).