Before starting his visits to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Slovenia’s Prime Minister, Mr Janez Janša, pointed out that the region holds great potential for the Slovenian economy and that the door to this potential can be opened through political meetings at the highest level. This visit, which is to start tomorrow, is also important in light of Slovenia’s upcoming EU Presidency, among the priorities of which will be intercultural dialogue and a stable energy supply.
Photo by: KPV
Prime Minister Janša commented that this would be the first such visit to Saudi Arabia, since a visit at this high level had not occurred since the international recognition of Slovenia. Seven years ago, Slovenia’s government-level delegation visited Kuwait and established relations between the two countries; however, economic cooperation showed no considerable growth. According to the Prime Minister’s words, preparations for this visit have taken longer than usual. The Government delegation will be composed of several ministers with their own programmes of meetings.
Slovenia’s Prime Minister outlined two strategic objectives of his visit: "The first objective is to open the door to Slovenia's economy in a market that is very important and financially strong but not sufficiently exploited. Our second goal is to strengthen political dialogue with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the state of Kuwait in light of Slovenia’s forthcoming Presidency of the European Union. The Government delegation is accompanied by a strong business delegation including more than 60 representatives from 40 Slovene companies. Business conferences organised in cooperation with the national chambers of commerce and industry will be held in both of the above countries. Bilateral meetings are to be held by numerous Slovene, Saudi and Kuwaiti business representatives. A joint company, as the fruit of cooperation between two Slovene companies, ETI and ISKRAEMECO, and Saudi partners is to be established in Saudi Arabia. The official part of the visit also comprises meetings with the most prominent representatives of the two Arab states where talks will include themes related to intercultural dialogue. This is particularly important because Slovenia is to hold the Presidency of the EU in 2008, in which intercultural dialogue will constitute one of its priorities." The Prime Minister added that these two visits were a good opportunity to exchange views with Saudi and Kuwaiti counterparts. "What I would especially like to point out is the personal commitment of Saudi King Abdullah, who has supported considerable efforts in the field of education with a view to strengthening the understanding of cultural diversity. Moreover, Saudi Arabia invests a lot in education of this kind, this being one amongst the keys to strengthening intercultural dialogue," stressed the Prime Minister.
Furthermore, Prime Minister Janša pointed out that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are important players in the Gulf region: "These are two leading countries active in regional integrations such as the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Unity and, in particular, the Gulf Cooperation Council, to which the EU devotes special attention and with which it builds very close cooperation."
Another important topic according to the Prime Minister is the security of energy supplies. He recalled that this summer Slovenia organised a highly appreciated international conference in Bled called Caspian Prospects, which highlighted certain aspects of a feasible future EU strategy considering energy security, i.e. a safe and sustainable supply of energy. The talks in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will represent a follow-up to those efforts in terms of substance.
In connection with economic issues the Prime Minister mentioned the fact that both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are significant investors in our region, particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Slovenia also has strong economic interests. That is a further reason and incentive for this visit and for meetings of business people and government representatives.
At the end of his speech, the Prime Minister also presented some concrete data on economic co-operation. In spite of considerable possibilities and bearing in mind that these are two financially powerful markets and two countries with large revenues primarily from the sale of petroleum, the economic cooperation between Slovenia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait has till now been rather weak. According to last year's data, the trade turnover between Slovenia and Saudi Arabia amounted to about 30 million Euro, and between Slovenia and Kuwait substantially less. The economic indicators of cooperation for the current year are somewhat better. In spite of increasing trends, the figures show that there is a lot of room for development. "In the following years both countries envisage large investments in infrastructure facilities. In this area Slovenia possesses significant know-how and experience involving the construction of such facilities, the Gulf countries included, and this is one of the major opportunities where economic cooperation ought to be considered," concluded the Prime Minister.
