Market Briefing : Slovenia

Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia	Revoz-Renault car production plant in Novo Mesto	Luka Koper, the main port of Slovenia

Economic Situation
The Republic of Slovenia is a small country located in southern central Europe. It borders Italy, Croatia, Hungary and Austria. Slovenia became a member state of European Union (EU) on 1 May 2004 and it started using Euro currency on 1 January 2007. After the independence of Slovenia in 1991, its economy has been developing rapidly and the annual economic growth rate has been relatively stable. The economic growth rate of 2007 was 6.1% and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita was EUR 16,616, equivalent to 91% of the average EU level.

Business Opportunities:

Congress Tourism
Slovenia held the rotating EU Presidency from January to June 2008, the first of the twelve “new” member states which joined EU during 2004 to 2007 to assume it. During this period,Slovenia was responsible for organising and chairing all meetings of the Council of EU and represent the Council in meetings with other EU institutions such as the European Commission and the European Parliament as well as summits with other countries. The Director of the Slovenian Tourist Board noted that 2008 is the congress season in Slovenia. Facing the global market competition, Slovenia has its own advantages such as good a geographical position,favourable price/service quality ratio and its world recognised congress organisers. In addition,the numerous congresses held in Slovenia help to promote the evelopment of tourism. The country is relatively small, enabling many congress organisers to arrange sightseeing activities or short trips for participants after the congress. He expected that there would be further growth in congress tourism after Slovenia assumes the rotating Presidency.

Logistics Industry
Located in central Europe, Slovenia is known as the revolving door of Europe. The quantity of goods from Mediterranean countries passing through Luka Koper (the main Slovenian port) to European markets via has been increasing in recent years. The amount of imported fruit in the first two months of 2008 reached the total amount for the whole of 2007. In order to make Luka Koper a major European port, its management company, Luka Koper, d.d. said that a series of investment projects will be carried out on the expansion and modernisation of the terminal’s facilities. Currently, the amount invested in the construction of the new facilities has reached a total of EUR 2.8 million. Another logistics company Intereuropa announced its railway network plan in March 2008 and it is expected that 75,000 vehicles can be transported from Luka Koper to Moscow when the railway network is in operation.

Auto mobile Industry
The auto mobile industry occupies an important position in Slovenian economy. There is an annual turnover of nearly EUR 2.3 billion with 80% from exports. The auto mobiles and components manufactured are mainly exported to other European countries including Germany (40%), France (21%), Italy (8%) as well as Austria and the United Kingdom (6%); and the major clients are BMW, AUDI, Ford and Renault. In order to enhance its competitiveness and competein rival with countries like Czech, Hungary,Poland and Slovak with, which have the advantage of lower labour cost,the Slovenian manufacturersproducers focus on the quality, innovativeness and automation of their automobiles.the its competitiveness and compete rival with countries like Czech, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, which have the advantage of lower labour costs, the Slovenian manufactured producers focus on the quality, innovativeness on and automation of their auto mobiles. To maintain the status of the fastest developing local auto mobile industry in the world, The Automotive Cluster of Slovenia (ACS) has attached great importance and emphasizes on Rresearch and & Development (R&D). ACS is currently working on 18 development and 4 technology projects with recognition and support of the European Commission on the importance of the projects. ACS is also planning for another 30 development projects worth a total of EUR 80 million.

Major Website Recomm endations:

• Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments – (JAP TI)
  http://www.investslovenia.org/
  The mission of JAPTI is to enhance Slovenia’s economic competitiveness through the provision of technical and financial assistance to entrepreneurs, businesses and investors.Comprehensive information about Slovenian business environment, entrepreneurs economic data and the companies information is available on their website.
• Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (CCIS)
  http://www.gzs.si/eng/
  The official website of CCIS has a large business matching database and sufficient information of various chambers and trade fairs and exhibitions that held in Slovenia.
• Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia
  http://www.stat.si/eng/index.asp
  As the statistical institution of Slovenia, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia is in charge of the provision and analysis of up-to-date statistics. The website also provides various databases for the preparation of data table.

Source: CIA-The World Fact Book – Slovenia,
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/si.html
Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, http://www.stat.si/eng/index.asp
Main Export Commodities: processed goods, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food products
Main Import Commodities: machinery and transport equipment, processed goods, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, food products

Source: CIA-The World Fact Book – Slovenia,
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/si.html

Source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, http://www.stat.si/eng/index.asp

Note 1 : Exports = Domestic Exports + Re-exports
Note 2 : From May 2000, data on Transit are only available up to the 4th digit of NCEM/HS
Source: The Statistics and Census Service http://www.dsec.gov.mo/

SOURCE:

• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China
  http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/chn/default.htm
• The Economic and Commercial Counsellor’s office of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Slovenia
  http://si.mofcom.gov.cn/index.shtml
• Macao Statistics and Census Service
  http://www.dsec.gov.mo/c_index.html
• The World Factbook
  http://www.cia.gov/
• Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia
  http://www.stat.si/eng/index.asp
• Slovenian Presidency of the EU 2008
  http://www.eu2008.si/en/