Small businesses want stability and simplicity
The event, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS), also saw calls for stricter prosecution of white-collar crime and faster court proceedings, full elimination of taxation of the 13th and 14th wage, and direct responsibility for decisions and work in the public administration.
They also called for a reform of the public sector with a reduction of the number of civil servants and agencies, a reform for a more efficient healthcare system and shorter waiting times in hospitals and a reform of the educational system to introduce more technical and natural sciences.
GZS executive director Samo Hribar Milič said that the measures had been selected from a list of 30 proposals put forward by political parties in their election platforms, based on a survey involving more than 1,000 business executives.
GZS director general Sonja Šmuc said that small businesses had grown last year by double-digit numbers both in terms of profit and added value. This year's meeting in Brdo pri Kranju shows that entrepreneurs have a great ambition for faster growth, she added.
Šmuc assessed that it was a good sign that the programmes of political parties overlap to a large extent with what entrepreneurs had been warning about for years. But these are only words that now have to be realised, she added.
The representatives of the four most successful parties in the 3 June election endorsed the presented measures. "If a coalition was built based on the parties' economic programmes, we would already have one," said Vojmir Urlep of the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ).
Andrej Vizjak of the Democrats (SDS) said that the survey carried out today among the attending entrepreneurs would be of great help in the drafting of a coalition agreement, adding that the party's programme already included all proposed measures.
Outgoing Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek of the Modern Centre Party (SMC) said that the economic trends enabled Slovenia to take up on structural reforms, adding that "it is not time yet for public finance appetites to consume the results of economic growth".
Jernej Štromajer of the Social Democrats (SD) called for social dialogue to be preserved, adding that an agreement should be found together with trade unions on what to do next and how to create a simple and stable business environment.