Mit - Index

Mit - SINFO 2008 04 - 8 - Index

BUSInESSBUsinessBUSInESSBUsinessBUSInESSBUsinessBUSInESS
for cooperation are still open, Hribar MiliË told a visiting Chinese
economic delegation on 12 May. According to Peter Ješovnik, the
head of the Slovenian Public Agency for Entrepreneurship and
Foreign Investment (JAPTI), Slovenia posted record foreign direct
investment last year; however, very little of it came from China.
Chinese investment is welcomed in all sectors; the only limitations are
environmental friendliness and energy efficiency, said Ješovnik. Last
year 209 Slovenian exporters and 2,272 importers were registered
in China, and the number is growing, said Mateja »epin, head of
the GZS competitiveness centre. Twenty-five Slovenian companies
are present on the Chinese market. According to Hribar MiliË,
cooperation can be boosted by improving mutual understanding.
“I believe that economic cooperation will be followed by cultural,
social and scientific cooperation,” he said. The head of the Chinese
delegation, Jia Qinglin, praised the progress in bilateral cooperation
since 1992, when Slovenia and China established diplomatic ties. The
Chinese Government has full trust in Slovenia and wants to improve
ties with it, said Jia, the chairman of the National Committee of the
Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Jia said he was
already convinced of Slovenia’s success during last November’s visit
by Prime Minister Janez Janša and a team of Slovenian business
executives to China. This feeling was deepened further at today’s
meeting with Janša. Economy Ministry State Secretary Tomaž
JeršiË noted that China is one of Slovenia’s most important trading
partners, with imports from the Asian country amounting to EUR
346m in 2007 (+41% year on year) and exports to EUR 60m (+13%
year on year).
coNfErENcE oN tElEcommuNIcatIoNS
callS for ProtEctIoN of uSErS
Participants in a conference discussing ways to boost transparency
and supply for end-users of electronic communications agreed in
Ljubljana on 12 May that measures for providing competition on
the telecommunications market should be amended with measures
protecting the interests of end-users. Economy Minister Andrej
Vizjak said at the conference, which was organised by the Agency
for Post and Electronic Communications (APEK), that transparency
and better supply for end-users is important, as it strengthens
competition on the market and provides high-quality services in the
long run. According to him, increasing competition on the market
gives users access to diverse supply on the one hand, while a large
number of different price packages reduces the transparency of the
market, making it less user-friendly. Comparing different operators
and different packages is becoming increasingly difficult for
inexperienced users. According to the deputy director of APEK, Miha
Krišelj, this is why there is a great asymmetry between providers
and users, which can result in an unsuccessful market. Vizjak is
meanwhile convinced that reform of the telecommunications sector
in the EU, proposed last November by the European Commission,
will provide better protection of users and strengthen the rights
of end-users on the telecommunications market. The head of the
Irish national regulator for telecommunications, John Doherty,
meanwhile welcomed the fact that users’ interests are included
in the reform, as it envisages requirements for transparency and
protection of interests of all groups of users for all operators and
all services.
fDI facIlItatING aGENcy GEtS worlD
fINaNcE maGaZINE awarD
The Slovenian Public Agency for Entrepreneurship and Foreign
Investment (JAPTI) has been recognised by World Finance magazine
as the most promising foreign direct investment (FDI) location for
23
2008−2009 in Central and Eastern Europe, JAPTI said on 12 May.
JAPTI also expressed pleasure that its efforts to facilitate information
for foreign direct investors had been recognised and rewarded. The
remaining award winners for this year were the Slovakian Economy
Ministry (Best Tax Environment 2008), Invest in Romania (Best
Legal Environment 2008), ITD Hungary (Most Improved Business
Environment 2008) and the Agency of Montenegro for Economic
Restructuring and Foreign Investments (Best Privatisation Agency
of the Year 2008). World Finance, published by World News Media,
is a leading world bi-monthly financial magazine.
GovErNmENt allocatES Eur 150m for
actIvE EmPloymENt PolIcy
The government adopted an active employment policy scheme on
15 May, allocating EUR 150m in funds for the envisaged measures
in 2008 and 2009. Commenting on the document after the cabinet
session, Labour Minister Marjeta Cotman underscored that Slovenia
currently had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the EU. The
labour survey unemployment rate for Slovenia is at 4.7%, while the
EU average is at 7.1%. The Employment Institute registered 64,295
unemployed persons at the end of March, which is down 4% on
February and down 13.4% on March 2007. The minister ascribed
the decline to high economic growth and the government's active
employment policy. On the down side, she pointed to the problem
of structural unemployment, noting that the Ministry of Labour,
the Family and Social Affairs would put more funds into training
and education, so that the unemployed would get more skills
and expertise. The programme of the implementation of active
employment policy measures for 2008-2009 has been adjusted to the
state budget and the operative human resources development plan.
It envisages four measures: counseling and assistance in search
for a job; training and education; incentives for employers and
self-employment; and measures to increase social inclusion.
The measures will be funded from the national budget and the
European Social Fund, in the total amount of EUR 150m (EUR 74m
for 2008 and EUR 76m for 2009).
SlovENIaN comPaNIES booSt NEt
ProfIt IN 2007
Slovenian companies recorded profits for 6th year running, with the
total net profit in 2007 beating total losses by EUR 3.43m, which is
39% more than the year before, the Public Legal Records and Related
Services Agency of Slovenia (AJPES) said on 20 May. The report
from AJPES includes records of 48,781 companies which reported
their financial data for 2007. They employed a total of 499,465
people last year, a 6% rise year-on-year, while their total revenues
increased by 19% to EUR 77.96bn. A total of 33,459 companies
(68.6%) ended 2007 with net profit, which stood at EUR 4.12bn
overall. There were 1,023 companies which posted more than half
a million euros in net profit. Net losses were meanwhile reported
by 13,095 companies (26.8%), and the total amount of the losses
stood at EUR 684.1m. Last year 196 of those companies posted
more than EUR 500,000 of net loss. The EUR 4.12bn of the total
net profit was 36% higher in 2007 than the year before, while the
EUR 684.1m of the total net loss was up 24%. According to AJPES,
92.7% of the companies belong to micro companies, 4% are small
companies and 1.6% are medium sized ones. The share of large
companies, employing over half of the workers, stands at 1.6%.
The average gross wage in Slovenian companies that submitted the
data last year stood at EUR 1,191, 6% more than in 2006.
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