Slovenia Is A Strategic Economic Partner

As the Turkey-Slovenia Business Council, we held the Interconnected Business Series: Turkey-Slovenia Meeting, which contained the investment opportunities in Slovenia.

As the Turkey-Slovenia Business Council, we organised the “Interconnected Business Series: Turkey-Slovenia” meeting in cooperation with our counterpart organisation, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia. We brought together the businesspeople of the two countries and discussed in detail the investment opportunities in Slovenia.

Slovenia is a significant economic cooperation partner with its high welfare level among former Yugoslavia coun- tries, advanced industry, and transportation infrastructure, high standard communication services, qualified labour force, and proximity to the sea in Central Europe. The concept of accessibility has become more important than ever during the pandemic and with that in mind, there are many areas in which we can cooperate with the Slovenian market as it is pretty close to us logistically. Agriculture & food, ICT, technical textile, healthcare & medical, and transportation are among the important sectors for cooperation with Slovenia.

The Pharmaceutıcal Industry Is A Competitive Area In Slovenia

Healthcare is one of the sectors whose importance that we started to recognise again with the pandemic. The medical kit equipment market in Slovenia is worth about €350 million. And there is great competition in the pharmaceutical industry of the country. The local chemical and pharmaceutical industries make up a large portion of the country’s export revenue with a 77% share in sales to foreign markets. Slovenia is a dynamic market where projects such as highways and railways are expected to be realised. Slovenia’s advanced transportation infrastructure further develops its mobility, facilitates economic growth, and answers to the distribution and stor- age needs of logistics centres. The development activities of the renewable energy infrastructure are also expected to lead the growth in the sector. Our companies participate in infrastructure tenders in Slovenia frequently. We also find opportunities in cooperation in third countries for infrastructure and construction sectors. In order to take a look at these opportunities, we invite our contracting and infrastructure companies. With the new conjuncture imposed by the pandemic, we cannot go without mentioning digitalisation. We see how export figures have skyrocketed in ICT compared to previous years. Slovenia also has a start-up ecosystem that is worth mentioning here. Slovenian companies continue to take part in foreign markets by investing in other countries. And since the start-up culture is starting to flourish in our country, we place great value on cooperation in this field.

Technical Textile Sector Harbours Opportunities

The European Union carries out projects such as technical platforms and excellence centres in textile. Slovenia also initiated similar technological platform projects to integrate textile and clothing companies. Slovenia has important know-how in the textile ar- ea. The demand for technical textile products used in industrial and construction fields, especially in the automotive sector, is expected to increase as these markets grow. Having a strong position in the market and the extension of many developing sectors, the technical textile sector harbours great opportunities. Again, agriculture & food, transporta- tion, tourism, and automotive are among the leading sectors. Additionally, the markets of the neighbour countries can be the third markets that Sloven and Turkish companies can mutually invest in. We can reach successful cooperation by combining Turkey’s business capacity with Slovenia’s speciality in the neighbouring markets. At this point, I also want to point that the European Union will provide about €9 billion support to West Balkans covering investments in trans- portation and digital transformation. And we should keep in mind that Slovenia’s close commercial connection with the European Union market is an advantage for Turkish companies aiming to enter the market.

The Interest Of Our Companies In Slovenıa Is Increasing

Our mutual trade relations with Slovenia have been going really well. Last year, economic relationships between the two countries increased and reached their top level in the last 10 years. Slovenia is among the important countries with which Turkey had an export surplus. Our mutual trade in- creased by 20% in comparison to the last year and reached over $2 billion according to 2019 data. And when we look at the first nine-month figures of 2020, we see a 13% decrease in our export due to the pandemic. Additionally, the interest of our companies in Slovenia for investments is increasing day by day. Of course, the increase is pleasing; however, when we consider the potential between our countries, the current data is quite low.

We Create Platforms To Bring Busıness Worlds Together

We believe that mutual economic relations can be increased as a result of the supports of private sector representatives. With this aim, we are building platforms to bring together the two business worlds in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia. The gateway to Europe, Slovenia will surely increase its trade and eco- nomic relations with our country in the upcoming period. I believe that we will overcome this period by making the best use of the current opportunities during these challenging pandemic times.

Chairperson of Turkey-Slovenia Business Council Fatih Canpolat