Among the topics of the conference, hosted by the Ljubljana Faculty of Economics and the newspaper Finance, will also be the role of politics in rearranging the world, Germany's future after Angela Merkel and the changes for businesses brought about by new technologies.

A senior consultant from the Economic Institute of the Ljubljana Faculty of Law, Veljko Bole, will deliver a lecture on what lies ahead for Slovenia and SE Europe in the coming years. "Not everything is problematic," he believes.

Slovenia is a very small country and if the economic situation indeed deteriorates, as forecast, it will be very important how individual segments will react. Bole stresses the importance of supporting structures. "If a storm comes, everyone will take care of their own house first."

The Economic Faculty will present its latest research on innovation. According to Polona Domadenik, a head of the project, innovation powers global competition, and China is closing in on the leading countries in this field.

"Not only the amount of money invested in research and development is important for innovation, but also clear policies and support," she said at Thursday's presentation of the conference.

This was confirmed in the survey, which revealed that Slovenian companies on average invest some 4.5% of revenue in innovation.

"This is about one percentage point more than five years ago, so the trend is positive," Domadenik said.

The strongest companies in this field allocate 6% of their revenue to innovation. "It is very important how the process is being led and the management's involvement," she added.

The conference, which hosted more than 500 speakers and 1,500 participants in the past 20 years, will also include a round table debate featuring the managers of ICT company Iskratel, Bisnode, a business information provider, and technical security company Zarja Elektronika.