The World Investment Report, presented in Ljubljana on Tuesday by the Faculty for Social Science's centre for international relations, shows Slovenia saw US$ 679m worth of divestment by foreign investors last year, while outward flow stood at a modest US$ 58m.

The data puts Slovenia below global average and in the last spot in the central and eastern European region.

"All other countries in the region get bigger FDI inward flow in relative terms," Andreja Jaklič of the faculty explained.

She added Slovenia was also sliding in the outward flow rankings, where it had been among the better performers in the last 20 years.

Jaklič highlighted as a key measure the securing of a strong rule of law and trust in the rule of law, while she also sees the need for a reform of the labour market - taxes on labour need to be cut above all for the best paid staff, flexibility increased.

"These are the most burning issues, which are followed by protracted procedures for the obtaining of licences when expanding or buying land and lack of liquidity in the country," Jaklič said.

The investment report does not include a forecast of future FDI trends in Slovenia, but most projections do not seem promising.

"Some institutes still expected good prospects for 2014 because of the planned privatisation...and pressure from the European Commission. But recent events are increasing uncertainty and are again undermining inward flow and planned investment in Slovenia," Jaklič moreover noted.