In his opening address the Minister underlined that the Kingdom of Norway and the Republic of Slovenia have established cooperation at an enviable level in several areas; mainly in the framework of the implementation of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism and the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism. “In the period 2009-2014 Slovenia is eligible to 26.9 million euros in grants which are meant mainly for the projects in the field of the environment and climate change, civil society, human and social development and tripartite dialogue. With the help of the grants Slovenia has been successful in implementing several projects” said Minister Stanko Stepišnik, MSc and added that this is also a good basis for the strengthening of economic cooperation.
“I always like to underline that there are perspective enterprises in Slovenia which are successful, competitive, innovative and forward-thinking, which operate in such a manner not only in the local market but the global market as well. Such enterprises demonstrate that the Slovenian economy has something to offer” said the Minister. He expressed his confidence in the fact that the Slovenian economy is able to successfully cope with the situation in the market only with an innovative approach and brave ideas in the field of the development of products and services. According to the Minister, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia strives to use the development investments in an oriented manner and with the appropriate regulations create a favourable innovative entrepreneurial environment.
Minister Stepišnik, MSc focused on foreign and domestic investments in technology and creation of jobs. According to the Minister, Slovenia is visited by foreign enterprises due to the qualified personnel and in light of expanding their activities to the Slovenian business environment. “We wish to attract enterprises with a higher added value, which put great emphasis on initiatives for industrial research and technological development” said the Minister. The Ministry of Economic Development and Technology and the executing agency SPIRIT Slovenia welcome the already-initiated endeavours of the ministries and expand them with the systematic reduction of obstacles for foreign as well as domestic investments. The Minister introduced to the Norwegian entrepreneurs the investment opportunities in Slovenia and underlined that Slovenia awards financial initiatives for foreign direct investments such as tax allowances as well as by allocating grants for initial foreign investment, financial incentives for employment and (re)qualification of employees, employment incentives, incentives for innovation projects (grants, soft loans, guarantees and various incentives at the local level).
According to Minister Stanko Stepišnik, MSc the cooperation between Norway and Slovenia has solid foundations. The Minister expressed his confidence that new business ties will be established which will benefit both countries.