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TRADE AND COMMERCE NOT A ONE-WAY STREET
Opening Ceremony Krka NOTOL solid form drug production facility
Novo mesto, 12 April 2002
"I have very often come across Krka. I could say many a thing about Krka, about my desired view of its future as one of the trailblazers of Slovenia's future and a creator of its material foundations. As one of those companies that courageously took on the challenge of the global market, exposing itself to its rules and its criteria, using them to evaluate Slovenian skill, perseverance, innovativeness and entrepreneurship, all of which this company exports. These are companies that prove that trading and doing business in an open market is a two-way process, that it is not merely the import of capital, goods and know-how, but also their export", stressed the President of the Republic, adding that "these companies see that only such a two-way street offers the necessary developmental balance and prevents subordination. Slovenia is not opposed to foreign capital. It does however want such conditions that will also allow our companies to export capital, know-how and goods, thus equally competing in foreign markets. How tough working with these markets can be once governments step behind the interests of their economies with all the legitimate instruments at their disposal is something our companies have come to feel many times, not so long ago precisely the pharmaceutical industry itself."
Ladies and Gentlemen,
There are people with foresight in this world, people who often see what those around them fail to see. Other people cannot see into the future, and because they themselves don't want to, cannot, or do not know how, they call that first kind of people dreamers.
You at Krka have been looking into the future for decades. But you are not dreamers. It was the circumstances in which Krka was born and in which it developed that forced you to do so. You have the ability of turning what to some is merely a dream into reality. You can do so because you have the necessary knowledge and courage. How you nurture that knowledge, care for it and develop it further is very well demonstrated by the annual Krka Awards for young researchers and students. That is the reason why I believed in your plans for the largest investment in a solid form drug production plant – Notol, as you called it – already several years ago when I attended the opening of your research and control centre. That centre of quality assurance for your products significantly boosted your confidence, which you wield on the very competitive domestic and foreign pharmaceuticals markets.
What is most important, however, is that you yourselves believed in your dream for the future. You also had every reason to do so. Your knowledge, quality and excellence reach to the very pinnacle of the values nurtured by Krka's management and all of its associates through their organisational culture and hard working spirit. Krka is a conveyor of such mentality which, as I firmly believe, is the only guarantee of a sound future for us Slovenes as it prepares us for creative competition in the world. A mentality which, as the fundamental motivation behind every creative endeavour in spiritual and material production, drives high professionalism, salience and excellence. A mentality marked by ambition, as well as an awareness and a self-confidence that your ambitions are realistic as there is sufficient knowledge to achieve them.
I have very often come across Krka. I could say many a thing about Krka, about my desired view of its future as one of the trailblazers of Slovenia's future and a creator of its material foundations. As one of those companies that courageously took on the challenge of the global market, exposing itself to its rules and its criteria, using them to evaluate Slovenian skill, perseverance, innovativeness and entrepreneurship, all of which this company exports. These are companies that prove that trading and doing business in an open market is a two-way process, that it is not merely the import of capital, goods and know-how, but also their export. These companies see that only such a two-way street offers the necessary developmental balance and prevents subordination. Slovenia is not opposed to foreign capital. It does however want such conditions that will also allow our companies to export capital, know-how and goods, thus equally competing in foreign markets. How tough working with these markets can be once governments step behind the interests of their economies with all the legitimate instruments at their disposal is something our companies have come to feel many times, not so long ago precisely the pharmaceutical industry itself.
What says most about your company are Krka's actions themselves. Your president, Mr Kovačič, already spoke of your plans. There is no way I could ever compete with him in promoting your company nor do I believe anyone else could at this time. It is clear that after 40 years of successful and creative work for Krka Mr Kovačič has become its mark of recognition and a valued brand name, particularly among your partners in Central and Eastern Europe.
Today certainly is a solemn day for Krka. A day of outstanding success to add to the many commercial successes of the past year. It is a day of success for your future, for the future of your home town of Novo Mesto, for the region of Dolenjska, and for Slovenia. Success that with the name Krka-Notol will help shape the image of Slovenia throughout the world, the image of a country that is overcoming its physical dimensions with the unparalleled quality of its products, its services, its attitude and behaviour.
My congratulations to you all. My congratulations to those of you capable of dreaming and turning those dreams into actions.
I wish you all a most pleasant day.
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