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Who can become a member of the German-Slovenian Chamber of Commerce? How much does it cost and what are the benefits?
Any company which is connected in any way with Germany and Slovenia: it can be a German company here or a Slovene company exporting to Germany or with an interest in Germany. The membership fee is flat at EUR 1,000 per year except for very small companies which pay half of that. There are a lot of advantages to becoming our member: we provide information regarding both countries, there is a help page on the internet, monthly newsletter, and members are listed on the internet. We also help with paperwork and tax advice. We are the strongest foreign chamber in Slovenia.

What sort of companies make up the chamber?
The German investors in Slovenia and Slovenian companies who export to Germany are the majority of our members. Our main sectors are automotive industry, pharmaceuticals, electro industry. So we're not so strong in services, but they're coming. Lawyers, language schools, on the trade we have those companies like Lidl. But the majority comes from the production sector. However, since the onset of crisis, more requests are coming from smaller and medium sized companies.

Despite the European and global financial troubles, the German economy is not only growing but booming. Where do you see the reason for this?
Everybody's surprised. But Germany did its homework at the beginning of the century. We made the reforms that were necessary, made some changes in the labour market such as flexible working hours. The booming Germany is driven by the demand from China and Russia.

Slovenia is very much dependent on German partners. Is it safe for Slovenia to rely as much as it does on German growth?
That depends. If you're successful in the German market, you're successful everywhere. There is a very highly competitive market in Germany. Slovenia should make an effort to maintain its presence in Germany. But it's a demanding market and the smaller companies face a lot of problems and we are here to help them. I think Slovenia should focus on European markets overall - maintain the German one and also go further afield.

Where do you see Slovenia's biggest potential and do you think the government is doing enough to promote it?
Slvoenia's biggest potential is in the tourist industry. The government needs to figure out how to make Slovenia more attractive as a destination, it needs to create more awareness. There is also a great deal of potential in new technologies. Slovenia needs to get away from the sub-contractive industry. Research and development is fine, but also you need the companies to link to it and here there is room for improvement. Small companies are doing this, but this is the creative Slovenia. [Slovenia should] focus on that. A lot of potential is also in the wood sector, including the furniture industry. The sector has been in decline and Slovenia doesn't have production here and it should develop it.

In what way do you see the potential in tourism?
Slovenia needs to create more awareness. In general it's facing two challenges. The first challenge is that the profession [in the industry] doesn't have a good image, it is not very attractive in terms of the working hours, and it is not very well paid. As an employer you need to try to create more travel attractiveness. The second challenge is to create more awareness of Slovenia in other countries like Italy and Germany where people might be interested in staying here, but are currently just driving through on the way to Croatia. More focus needs to be put on Slovenia as a whole tourist destination and not only to a single region, spa, hotel etc. It needs to take advantage of its smallness.

Obviously Slovenia and Germany are very different countries but is there anything that Slovenia can take from Germany's example and learn from its success?
There is structural crisis in Slovenia. Slovenia has to do the homework in privatisation, this is very, very important. It also needs to open the market for foreign investment, especially in the construction industry. There are still a lot of things to do. It was fine during the time when Slovenia became an EU member. But since 2004 Slovenia is a part of new community. If it wants to play an important role [in the community], it needs to open up its own economy a bit more and welcome foreign investors. [With foreign direct investment] you can get different sides, points of view and this is interesting. It's a chance for exchange and different ideas. This can be a new challenge for Slovenia. Flexibility in labour policy is another challenge.

The Chamber celebrates its fifth anniversary this year. What activities do you have planned?
At the end of October we are celebrating our fifth anniversary with the Deutsche Ball. We have some special guests in mind.
Otherwise, we have 40 events a year - both big and small, as well as workshops. It is our plan to support small and medium companies in the new technologies. One plan is that in March 2012 we want to have a Slovenian Pavilion at Cebit in Hannover which is the most important trade fair in the field of new technologies. There's going to be a kick-off show, event, and a workshop to present our plan. We want to contribute to the recognisability of Slovene products and not just the tourist segment.
There is also going to be a renewable energy symposium in November in Slovenia. New technologies from Germany, efficiency policies and so on will be presented there. We will bring in experts from Germany and they have bilateral meetings for three days with the Slovenian experts.
There is also going to be a summer party for our members in August.