"In the past seven years trade between Slovenia and India increased nearly six-fold, but there are still many unused opportunities," said Samo Hribar Milič, the president of Slovenia's Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS).

Dilip Chaudhary of the Indian Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises said that India offered many advantages to investors, ranging from low labour costs to qualified work force.

Indian Ambassador Jayakar Jerome addressed the conference organised by the Indian embassy in Slovenia, the GZS and the Bled IEDC business school, calling upon Slovenian businesses to cross the borders of Europe.

In his opinion, the biggest problem for Slovenian companies interested in cooperating with India is getting a good business partner and start doing business with India.

Marjan Hribar of the government Tourism and Internationalisation Directorate expressed belief that some small and medium-sized companies in Slovenia might regard the Indian market as too big and cannot imagine how to enter it.

Slovenia, on the other hand, is not a very attractive investment destination for Indian companies, the conference heard.

The ambassador pointed out that companies choose locations with a friendly visa system, simple work permit procedures, low labour costs, low taxes and developed infrastructure, adding that Slovenia lags behind its neighbours in the first four points.

Hribar Milič acknowledged that Slovenia is not attractive to foreign investors, adding however that a lot could be achieved with a little effort. In this respect, he revisited the idea of cooperation between Slovenian and Indian flag carriers.

Slovenia's Adria Airways, airport operator Aerodrom Ljubljana and Air India signed a memorandum in June 2011 under which Ljubljana airport will serve as a stop over for North America flights of India's flag carrier.

However, the memorandum is not being implemented because Slovenia has yet to ratify a relevant air traffic agreement.

Ambassador Jerome moreover said that Adria Airways should be motivated to continue cooperation negotiations with Air India, which is looking for an alternative to the Frankfurt airport.