Commenting on the government's reform efforts following a cascade of sovereign rating downgrades earlier this year, the president pointed out that the rating agencies actually did Slovenia a favour.

They served as a wakeup call after last year's failed reform talks in which "people were talking past each other", Türk said, adding that this year's positive start to talks on the pension reform should be appreciated.

Highlighting in particular the opportunities in Slovenia's automotive cluster and in many other sectors, Türk stressed Slovenia had much talent and knowledge, but the question remains whether this knowledge is being put into practice.

He stressed Slovenia needs to open up to the world, to become more adventurous and lose the mindset of being a small country.

"Slovenia is exactly the same size as Israel, and nobody says Israel is a small country," Türk said. He believes Slovenia should be more aggressive in the positive meaning of the word.

The president's address marked the closing of the third edition of the international investor conference FDI Summit.

Organised by The Slovenian Times newspaper in cooperation with the Ljubljana Faculty of Economics, the conference focused on foreign investment trends, the changing economic situation in Slovenia and the measures the country will have to take in response to the new conditions.

Over 35 prominent speakers from Slovenia and abroad took part in the debates.