Janša said that the situation in the region, hit by a wave of insolvencies in recent years, had deteriorated since the government visited it in 2005 and pointed to unemployment and poor transport links as the main problems.

While the potential start of the construction of the southern part of the third development axis - an expressway linking the north and south of the country - was announced for 2014, Janša said that a lot will depend on funding possibilities.

Part of the funds can be secured from the EU and a part by the state, but this will only suffice for half, Janša said, suggesting that the rest would need to be secured by licence fees from the leasing of the country's motorway network.

The PM touched on Krka, the pride of the region, saying that the state will probably not sell its 25% stake in the pharma company as envisaged in the government's recent classification of state investments.

He noted that parliament still needed to confirm the document and that positions by parties indicated Krka will stay part state-owned.

Janša meanwhile also highlighted the problem of the unbalanced funding of individual regions, saying a disproportionally large chunk was going to the central region. This will continue until Slovenia establishes provinces, the prime minister added.

He meanwhile sees opportunities for Dolenjsko and Bela krajina above all in a successful phasing of EU funds, also in light of Slovenia increasing its regional development revenues in the new EU budget.

The government delegation met a number of business executives and politicians from the region as part of the visit, covering a range of topics, including the Roma community.

Janša discussed the situation with Novo mesto Bishop Andrej Glavan on Tuesday, while head of Interior Ministry's Office for Nationalities, Stane Baluh met the Mayor of Črnomelj Mojca Čemas Stjepanovič and representatives of the local Roma community today.

According to Baluh, a lot of progress has been made, although problems remain above all in infrastructure - 70% of Roma families in Črnomelj do not have electricity - and the social situation of the community.