At today's session, the government adopted the programme to promote internationalisation 2015-2020, which is an inseparable part of the efforts for Slovenia’s development strategy, which is intended to achieve prosperity and sustainable development of Slovenia.
The Ministry of Economic Development and Technology has prepared a multi-annual programme to promote internationalisation in accordance with the Act on Promoting Foreign Investment and the internationalisation of Companies.
As it is prudent to follow the European scheme, the Ministry opted for a six-year programme and merged both programmes: the programme to promote the internationalisation of companies and the programme to promote foreign investments were merged into a single document, as internalisation efforts include foreign investments. The basis for implementing most measures envisaged in the programme are schemes of reported aid granted by the state.
Internationalisation is one of the priorities which needs special attention.
Programme goals: to focus on the growth and development of the Slovenian economy in the international environment and improve the competitiveness of the domestic support environment. Strategic goals have been selected from a macro-economic perspective, while operational goals focus on monitoring the realisation of programme measures, so sector-specific goals have been determined.
Strategic goals: to increase the value of exports by 5% annually; increase GDP per capita by 2-3% annually and the share of exports in GDP per capita by 2% annually; increase exports to non-European markets by 5% annually; to at least preserve the share of incoming FDI in GDP.
Operational goals: to increase the number of new export companies by 0.5 per cent annually, to increase the number of all companies supported within the programme by 5% annually; to increase the number of supported SMEs by 50% annually; to increase the net income of SMEs from sales in foreign markets by 0.4% annually; to increase Slovenia’s participation rate in the global value chains database; to increase the value of foreign direct investment by 4% annually.
Promoting internationalisation of companies
Internalisation measures are aimed at promoting Slovenian companies in different stages of development activities, from pre-export activity and entering the markets to the business operations of exporting, strengthening market position and extending operations to new markets. In this respect, the significance of preserving a presence in “traditional” markets should be stressed, along with the search for opportunities in new markets or regions.
Attracting foreign investors
These measures target potential investors that are oriented to sustainability and responsibility and are in accordance with expectations on the successful use of the Slovenian economy’s competitive advantages in terms of individual sectors and sub-sectors, added value, the possibility of employing the available work force, complementary cooperation with Slovenian companies and the possibility of joining global supplier chains and entering individual regions.
International challenges for the economy
At its last session, the government also discussed the International Challenges (IC) 2015-2016 document, with which it seeks to provide appropriate support to Slovenian enterprises and their more intensive internationalisation and joining global value chains, and to ensure the appropriate approach to attracting foreign direct investment.
The International Challenges (IC) 2015-2016 document was based on the agreement of all stakeholders and the programme to promote internationalisation 2015-2020, which stipulates the preparation of an action plan for at least two years that defines measures, target markers, funding, contractors and short-term goals.
IC 2015-2016 also defines the conditions for successful and effective internationalisation promotion in greater depth, lists crucial stakeholders that actively contribute to the implementation of internationalisation activities and defines activities in selected foreign markets.
In order to ensure the effective implementation of activities, closer cooperation with regional representatives and the exploitation of opportunities offered by the existing support infrastructure in the EU are planned.
The target markets where most activities will be implemented in the next two years are divided into three groups:
- priority markets: these include markets that are very significant globally, but where Slovenian companies do not have a strong presence or none at all, although there are many unexploited opportunities (the USA and Japan particularly for foreign direct investment, transfer of know-how and technologies, global value chains, and Turkey particularly in terms of commercial trade);
- traditional markets: markets where Slovenian companies are traditionally presents and operate, and traditionally largest investors in Slovenia (the EU, Western Balkans, Russia, Switzerland);
- prospective markets: opportunities for the Slovenian economy in the future. At present, these activities are not very intensive, but there are opportunities to upgrade them in the future, as these are large rapidly developing markets (China – a selection of regions, the Gulf states (Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia), Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran), India – a selection of regions.
By implementing activities aimed at internationalisation, the country seeks to stimulate companies to cooperate and connect, to find new business opportunities in new markets and to improve the position in traditional partner countries.
Slovenia will seek to attract foreign investments, particularly those with higher added value focused on innovation, research and development (US, Japan) and logistics (Gulf states (Qatar, UAE), China – entry point to Europe), and to maintain or increase the extent of activities of foreign investors from countries that traditionally invest in Slovenia.
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More information: Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Public Relations (Ms Stanka Ritonja, phone: +386 400 3505, e-mail: stanka.ritonja(at)gov.si).