7

Slovenia is now in the company of countries such as Georgia, Vietnam, India and Morocco and has been overtaken by the likes of Russia, Hungary and Montenegro, suggests the WEF Competitiveness Report released on Wednesday.

The country received low marks for financial market development (2.9 on a 1-7 scale) and labour market efficiency (3.9).

On the other hand, it scored highly on health and primary education (6.5), higher education (5.3) and institutions (4.9).

Switzerland continues to top the list for the sixth year in a row. It is followed by Singapore, the United States and Finland.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) described the result as "countries overtaking us left and right", which it said was the fault of all governments in power since 2008.

It said the new government must "heed the warning signs" and take measures to turn around the trend: these include tax cuts, lower environmental and energy duties, and tax breaks for reinvested profits.

If the government fails to act, Slovenia will slide not only in the rankings but into the abyss, added the Chamber of Trade Crafts and Small Business (OZS). The chamber said crediting of small business in particular must improve.