Rich in forests and natural sights and with good transport links, the region offers opportunities for tourism, wood-processing industry and international cooperation, but it generates low added value.

Comprising the municipalities of Bloke, Cerknica, Ilirska Bistrica, Loška dolina, Pivka and Postojna, it is the most sparsely populated Slovenian region.

Almost 60% of the region is designated as the Natura 2000 protection area. Aside from being rich in wood, it also has abundant water resources, which however fluctuate considerably depending on season.

It is the second least developed of Slovenia's twelve statistical regions, contributing only 1.8% to the country's GDP in 2012 with GDP per capita at 70% of Slovenia's average.

Although its net value added per employee has been increasing in recent years, it was still 16.3% below Slovenia's average in 2013. Pay in the region was 12.9% below the national average.

The underdeveloped economy means jobs in the region are scarce, especially for highly-educated staff, which is why it faces high labour force mobility and brain drain.

Ways to close the development gap will be discussed as the government opens the visit with a working session at Stari trg in the morning and concludes it with a meeting with local officials in Postojna.

PM Miro Cerar will tour several local companies and visit the Park of Military History in Pivka and the regional museum in Postojna.

Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek will meanwhile take part in a meeting in Pivka with representatives of the wood-processing industry.