NEWS

Prime Minister Pahor attends the 5th Slovenian Economic Summit

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, today attended the 5th Slovenian Economic Summit held at Brdo pri Kranju, where he addressed more than 500 businessmen and other guests assembled for this occasion. Mr Pahor opened his address by saying that although the situation in the Slovenian corporate sector is improving, the progress is slower than one might wish. He called for responsible conduct to be observed not only by the Government but also by businessmen, who particularly highlighted the problems of the building industry, late payments, too much bureaucracy and the utilization of EU funds.

   

Due to the impact of the global economic crisis and a strong fall in GDP last year, the Government, during the first half of its term of office, particularly provided for social cohesion, while in the second half of its term of office, it will focus on the increase in competitiveness of the Slovenian economy. "This is a basic philosophy of the Slovenian Government in this highly demanding time," emphasised Prime Minister Pahor. "When the first signs of recovery show after a certain time of brutal crisis, it is time for profound realism. It is realism that gives us an opportunity to actually take advantage of the first shimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, an ability to follow this light, and to ultimately come out of the tunnel," said Mr Pahor.

   

This year, the Slovenian economy is already gradually recovering, though slower than the most dynamic EU economies. The incentives for the enhancement of economic activities are in particularly coming from the international environment, because Slovenia, in terms of exports, strongly depends on Germany, France and Italy. "The economic recovery of Germany and France particularly improved the situation in this field and today, the export demand is essentially higher than a year ago," explained Mr Pahor. In his view, a higher growth is still impeded by certain factors in the domestic environment. In this context, he highlighted the situation in the building industry, which during the conjuncture overheated the economic growth, and now hinders the economic recovery, and a more difficult access to funding resources. "This is the consequence of adverse conditions on European financial markets and in the domestic banking sector," said the Slovenian Prime Minister.

   

In Mr Pahor's view, public finances are particularly undermined by the corporate sector having increasing problems in competing with rival companies, and the ageing of the population. Therefore, the Government is undertaking major reforms, which, though, must be a "general social project", emphasised Prime Minister Pahor. He went on to observe that the Government's endeavours and measures alone will not suffice to increase competitiveness.  With its measures, the Government cannot replace the striving of the corporate sector for better products. It also cannot change the technological structure of the economy. "The Government can encourage, but cannot substitute entrepreneurial incentives." The Government will create conditions for a faster recovery, but the management must also do their job. "At the outset of the crisis, the Government was much too quickly and frequently labelled not only as the only one to be blamed, but also as the sole rescuer. The responsibility of people in charge of companies, though, was quite often disregarded," concluded Prime Minister Pahor.