"The government's role is not to pick winners, it is to promote winners and allow the losers to leave the market in a socially acceptable way," Development Minister Mitja Gaspari told the press as he presented a document on industrial policy as part of preparations for a new development strategy until 2020.

One of the key aspects highlighted in the document is that the state should refrain from dealing with individual companies or sectors. Instead, it should focus on processes that produce maximum results: good branding, quality export products and penetration of demanding markets.

In these processes the government should not only participate with money, it should also provide non-financial incentives, he said, singling out taxes, administrative obstacles and access to financing, know-how and experience.

According to Gaspari, industrial policy needs to focus on growth industries which deserve appropriate support. "If the state only bails out companies, there will be no industrial policy and the economy will not make headway."

The main weaknesses of Slovenia's economy include low productivity and value added, slow practical implementation of know-how, short-term jobs and failure to determine Slovenia's comparative advantages.

"We promote everything and everyone. But Slovenia is too small for that, we have to decide our priorities," stressed Gaspari.

The document, titled "Time for Change - Time for a New Industrial Policy" is not meant to be applied directly, it has been conceived as a starting point for debates.