The Slovenia Times

Slovenian Chamber of Commerce business summit

Nekategorizirano


The competition on the global market is not only among companies, but increasingly also among states with respect to the supporting environment they offer to the economy and how they implement digital technologies in all social spheres, he said.

Cerar said the economic indicators in Slovenia were improving and the government was working hard to help business in their internationalisation.

This, he believes, is hugely important because modern technologies will continue to blur international boundaries.

As part of the summit, a declaration on a digital coalition was signed by Cerar, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) Marjan Mačkošek, Slovenia's digital champion Marko Grobelnik, Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS) head Jadran Lenarčič, Simon Delakorda of the NGO Network for an Inclusive Information Society, University of Ljubljana Chancellor Ivan Svetlik for the Slovenian Chancellors' Conference and president of the Association of Slovenian Municipalities (SOS) Bojan Kontič.

The prime minister said in his speech that he sees the digital coalition as a path towards the future. "The digital future is starting, and I hope this process will not stop."

According to Cerar, a trust has been built between businesses, the government and the people, which he finds very important because it "gives us more hope for tomorrow and the day after".

He moreover expressed a wish for Slovenia to become a green reference state in a digital Europe and one of the leading countries in the world in this area.

The annual Business Summit was also addressed by the president of the GZS, who said digitalisation was a great opportunity but also raised fears.

Mačkošek said there was much talk about digitalisation, but too little about the digitalisation of the economy, which he noted was essential.

Companies need to digitalise their operations faster, he stressed, but added that this would also depend on how the issue was approached by the state.

Samo Hribar Milič, the general manager of the GZS, the organiser of the summit, presented DigitAgenda 2016, a document which brings 30 concrete recommendations for the government and companies.

The agenda, prepared in cooperation with companies with a track record in this field, experts and politicians, consists of both general strategic recommendations and more specific ones for different areas.

Among the 30 recommendations, the summit chose as the most important an update to school programmes and digital strategies in companies.

Touching upon future legal changes in the digital area, Hribar Milič warned against the opportunity that some may see in digitalisation for steps like taxing the internet.

GZS executive director Goran Novković meanwhile presented a review of the implementation of a memorandum on Slovenia's economic priorities from the Business Summit two years ago.

Despite the measures that he listed, he stressed that the improved economic situation in Slovenia was the result of measures that were adopted before 2013.

He added that the public debt was being reduced too slow, that the fight against corruption was insufficient and slow, and that the budget was not development-oriented enough.

"We wish much stronger cooperation with the government than in the last two years," he was critical.

Share:

More from Nekategorizirano