Innovation Day

As part of the Innovation Day on 17 September, the CCIS conferred national awards for most innovative enterprises and innovators in enterprises and public-research institutes. The 7 golden, 28 silver and 8 bronze awards are the result of the national finals in which over 160 innovations and over 500 innovators took part on the regional level. Keynote speakers were Samo Hribar Milič, President of the CCIS, and Peter Olesen, Chairman of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). The Innovation Day also hosted a conference entitled International Development Partnerships, where the participants discussed the formation and evaluation of intellectual property, financing of innovations and the search for new international partners, buyers and investors.

Opportunities and obstacles in doing business with Iran

At the discussion held on 19 September, the current obstacles in doing business with Iran have been presented in detail; how business could still be pursued with Iranian companies and which areas provide most opportunities for Slovenian companies. Moreover, the economic delegation planned to visit Iran in the beginning of the next year was presented, as well as the idea on closer cooperation and joint representation of Slovenian companies in Teheran, which would facilitate the entry into the Iranian market for many of them.

There is no other way but Keynes way

The conference held by the CCIS on 11 September on how to obtain sources and models for financing investments in enterprises and the infrastructure revealed that there is no lack of sources and models. However, well prepared and guided investment projects and wise strategic decisions are required as to which priority infrastructural projects and developmental-innovative investments we will choose.

CCIS organising the 1^st Employers’ Day

The international conference for the 1st Employers Day organised on 27 August highlighted the wage module from several points of view including its legal basis and role, the influence of collective agreements on its formation, and specific effects of wage modules in the company. A good practice example by the company Si.mobil and the Austrian system of collective bargaining have also been presented.

24 September 2014: Management Board of CCIS

The main issue discussed by the members of the Management Board will be the Strategy of smart specialisation – How to reach connections and sources.

25 September 2014: Vietnam and Indonesia – entry points into ASEAN

On 25 September, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia will organise a seminar in cooperation with the EVBN Vietnam and the EIBN Indonesia, which will present key facts and business opportunities on the Vietnamese and Indonesian market. The operations of ASEAN SME IPR Helpdesk along with the services and activities offered by the EU-Indonesia Business Network and the EU-Vietnam Business Network to Slovenian companies will also be the focus of attention.

25 and 26 September 2014: 4th conference to the topic of the public utility sector

This conference will highlight sustainable modus operandi in the public utility sector and search for opportunities how to change weaknesses into strengths. We are aware that it is up to us to decide on changes, and we are responsible for them as well!

1 and 2 October 2014: Best Practices Day 2014 Conference

The conference is intended to present best practice examples of Slovenian companies with a view to constant improvements of production and production-related processes. In particular, we would like to draw your attention to the morning part of the first day when the significance of lean production in order to achieve higher competitiveness and the experience of planned introduction of constant improvements will be presented by our renowned guests: Boštjan Ložar, independent strategic consultant, and successful managers from Slovenian companies – Mitja Praprotnik from Danfoss, Iztok Stanonik from Polycom, and Andrej Božič from Steklarna Hrastnik.

2 and 3 October 2014: Conference to the topic of challenges of the recycling industry in Slovenia

One of the key answers to the issue of natural resources exploitation is efficient waste management. Reused waste for new raw materials and energy brings about enormous positive effects, but the development of this activity greatly depends on the support environment, as well as on the cost effectiveness of the process of turning waste into new products. The aim of the conference which will be held on 2 and 3 October is to seek answers to the coming time by seriously considering how to support the recycling industry so as to enable it to become a serious alternative to exploitation of natural resources in as many kinds of raw material as possible. This is a multi-faceted problem; therefore, the conference will attempt to provide its contribution to further development of the recycling industry while drawing attention to the difficulties that need to be remedied.

6 October 2014: Business-to-business meeting between Slovenian and Italian companies

There are 23 companies engaged in various activities (metallurgy, furniture, construction, food industry, logistics, energy industry, etc.) and commercial agents (food industry, footwear and clothes industry, furniture, etc.) coming from Italy.

8 October 2014: Morning coffee with a guest at the CCIS: non-EU markets

The introductory presentation will be followed by individual meetings with the guest. Norris Claude Jones comes from Jamaica, where he graduated from business sciences. Later on, he pursued his professional career also in the Great Britain and in the USA. He has lived in Slovenia since 2008 where he is established as a sole trader and pursues doctoral studies at the Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana. He is looking for business opportunities and establishing cooperation with companies on non-EU markets, in particular in the USA, Caribbean countries, in the Middle East and in South America.

9 and 10 October 2014: 16th congress for providers of accounting services

The programme of this years’ congress includes various tax-related topics. In the face of default payments, we will present the course of the enforcement procedure in Slovenia and in the European Union based on practical examples. We have not forgotten about the novelties awaiting us next year, i.e. e-invoices and new EU accounting directive which will be integrated into the Companies Act in the part referring to keeping books of account. This year’s programme will offer more since lectures given at the congress have been expanded to include financial topics. As part of these, we will discuss why accountants need to supervise cash flows and what banks find important in the field of risk assessment when granting investment funds. This year’s congress will be wrapped up by the Olympic winner Petra Majdič, who will talk about overcoming obstacles, looking for internal and external motivation and building up a strong team which is necessary to achieve the objectives.

14 October 2014: Slovenian Business Summit

This year’s Slovenian Business Summit, which has the tradition of being the biggest gathering of businessmen, will be characterised by interactive dialogue among representatives of the economy, politicians, experts and other visitors to the topic of priority moves to be taken in Slovenia in order to regain our economic independence as soon as possible, as pointed out by the Minister of Finance, Dušan Mramor, PhD.

16 October 2014: European Parliament of Enterprises

On 16 October 2014, Brussels will host the third European Parliament of Enterprises (EPE) organised by Eurochambres. On this day, almost 1,000 businessmen from 45 European countries gather in the hemicycle of the European Parliament. This is the biggest event on the EU level which gives the word directly to businessmen and provides a unique opportunity to discuss the current economic issues with high representatives of European institutions. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia as a member of Eurochambres will ensure the participation of 5 Slovenian businessmen. As we also want to take this opportunity to have a discussion with Slovenian MPs in Brussels, we will organise a meeting with them prior to this event in order to exchange the current observations and positions on issues connected with the Slovenian economy in relation to EU institutions.

18 September 2014: Commentary: A government of economic independence

Following his inauguration in the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, the CCIS congratulates the new Prime Minister Miro Cerar, PhD, and all ministers of the new, 12th Slovenian Government. We wish them much success on the way to the economic independence of Slovenia, as stated by the new Minister of Finance, Dušan Mramor, PhD. Samo Hribar Milič, President of the CCIS: "Slovenia has to work as a team which will pragmatically use the numerous opportunities and potentials abroad and at home. In that way, we can also guarantee new workplaces in the most efficient way possible."

18 September 2014: 2nd response of the CCIS: Slovenia has TEŠ 6 and eco-TEŠ 6

The CCIS is surprised about the statement of ten organisations submitted to us by the society Focus, as well as over the strange interpretation of our press release of 4 September 2014. Once again, we call upon all stakeholders to draft balanced and wise policies which will enable the achievement of our environmental and energy commitments while providing more renewable energy sources and more efficient use of energy by focusing on economic ways of financing environmental and energy projects.

17 September 2014: Commentary of the CCIS: Health care: the Government should also act responsibly

In Germany, the average contribution rate for active population is 15.5% – irrespective of the base, be it for gross wages or different wage compensations, such as pensions, unemployment benefits, etc. In Slovenia, employees in the enterprise sector pay by far the highest amounts into the national budget.

4 September 2014: Commentary of the CCIS: Slovenia has TEŠ 6 and eco-TEŠ 6

Due to improper fostering of renewable energy sources, grants will cost us as much as TEŠ 6. Slovenia has to decrease pollution in the energy industry in a sustainable, environmentally-friendly, economically & energetically viable and wise manner. Only in this way can we reach the 25 per cent share of energy from renewable sources by 2020 in a way that is fair to all taxpayers. For this reason, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Slovenia (CCIS) supports the audit of the TEŠ 6 project and at the same time expects the new Government to initiate an investigation due to non-economic and inexpedient use of taxpayer’s money for the renewable energy sources (RES) scheme.

3 September 2014: Commentary of the CCIS: Slovenia in free fall. For how long?

The fall of Slovenia from place 45 to place 70 on the Global Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum (WEF) only in the last five years unfortunately comes as no surprise. The authors of the index have correctly sensed the problems on the financial markets and labour market. Unfortunately, no Slovenian government from the start of the big crisis in 2008 has lent an ear to the numerous warnings coming from the domestic and foreign expert public, and often even acted contrary to them. On the international floor, we have used up the whole bonus from the first period of independence of the Republic of Slovenia.

Also in the second quarter, the intra-annual level of economic growth has remained positive for the third quarter in a row. More than that, it even increased. Its intra-annual rate was 2.9% (seasonally adjusted data). The structure of growth by components reveals a clearer background picture. Exports grew by 5.2%, whereas imports only grew by 1.1%. There was a rise in gross investment by 8%; however, its strong growth was also affected by inventories. The GDP growth was lower due to government spending by 0.4 percentage points, while the consumption of households grew by 0.1%. Apart from external trade, gross investment contributed most to the strong growth. If we break it down to subcomponents – inventories, machinery and equipment, buildings and structures – we can observe that inventories have contributed merely 0.6 percentage points to the GDP growth (otherwise it would be 2.3%), buildings and structures 1.9%, while investment into machinery and equipment had a negative contribution amounting to 0.9 percentage points. What does this indicate for the future? The comparative base in the third and fourth quarters is higher since last year the GDP (after audit) experienced falls by quarters by -4.5, -1.3 and -0.3%, whereas it grew by 2.1% in the last quarter, mostly on account of revaluation of inventories (contribution of 2.2 percentage points to the growth). The balance of exports was strongly positive in the last two quarters, mostly due to low intra-annual growth in the first half of last year and last year’s import of equipment for the TEŠ influencing high imports. In the second half of the year, we can expect a weaker growth of imports, also due to decreased demand on export markets, which Slovenian companies usually sense with a 3-6 months delay. Private consumption has been on the increase since the beginning of the year and could rise in the third quarter as the labour market is strengthening, deposit rates are falling and real wages are growing. Private consumption makes up about 55% of the GDP and has therefore already been influenced by negative trends on the labour market, increase of indirect taxes (excise duties) and VAT increase in the past.

Due to the aforementioned, the CCIS will correct the autumn economic forecast for the better, i.e. above 1% of the GDP. The key risk factor remains revaluation of inventories, which is difficult to forecast. The scenario that the economic growth in the next year will be lower than in this year is thus highly probable.

The number of registered unemployed persons which has been on the decrease since the end of the first quarter experienced another decrease in August. On the intra-annual level, it was lower by 1.6% and included 114,784 unemployed persons. The active working population is on the increase, especially due to increased employment via employment agencies. On the intra-annual level, the active working population grew by 1.1%. Gross wages are increasing in nominal terms and adjusted to inflation. In the private sector, gross wages were higher by 2.3% during the year, and by 1.2% in the public sector. Activities in construction slightly decreased in July but remained significantly higher than a year ago. In particular, construction of civil engineering works increased compared to the first seven months of last year due to the construction of municipal infrastructure linked with EU funds. In August, the prices of industrial products set by manufacturers on the domestic market were lower on the intra-annual basis, especially due to lower prices in the food industry, and the manufacture of ICT equipment and electrical devices. On foreign markets, the prices remained on the same level during the year; prices in the manufacture of metals increased for the first time after 2011.
 

Below you will find some statistical data for Slovenia.