Slovenian President Borut Pahor attends Investment Conference in Istanbul: "Slovenia is an important partner of Turkey and Turkey is an important partner of Slovenia"

At the conclusion of his official visit to the Republic of Turkey, the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, today attended an investment conference which was held to promote the Slovenian economy and present current investment opportunities in Slovenia. In addition to President Pahor, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Karl Erjavec, a State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Mitja Mavko, and a representative of the Slovenian Compensation Company and Director of SPIRIT, the Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for the Promotion of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Development, Investment and Tourism, Boštjan Skalar, addressed important Turkish investors.

President Pahor first emphasised that relations between Turkey and Slovenia are based on long-standing friendship and respect, which is also of great importance for economic cooperation on both sides. He said that Turkey’s goal to become one of the ten strongest economies in the world within the next ten years is inspiring and deserves the greatest admiration. "Turkey is of strategic importance to Slovenia, and we must enhance cooperation at all levels. Slovenia is an important partner of Turkey and Turkey is an important partner of Slovenia," said the President.

In his address to more than 80 Turkish investors, President Pahor described Slovenia as a dynamic, open and export-oriented country, and invited potential investors to the country. He highlighted Slovenia’s human potential and the country’s extremely favourable geopolitical position at the intersection of Central and South Eastern Europe. In this context, he recalled that during yesterday’s meeting, he and President Gül had agreed on the crucial importance of the Brdo Process initiative for the stability of the Western Balkans. President Pahor said that Slovenia has many investment opportunities and stressed that it is a very interesting partner for Turkey, because the two countries have well-regulated treaty relations and have concluded basic agreements in almost every area of common interest, among the most important of which is the Strategic Partnership Agreement.

Yesterday afternoon, President Pahor attended the 6^th Annual Conference of Ambassadors of the Republic of Turkey, where he gave a short lecture. After the lecture, the President met the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, Ali Babacan.

Late yesterday afternoon, President Pahor met the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. During their meeting, President Pahor and Prime Minister Erdoğan established that the Strategic Partnership Agreement signed two years ago has already shown results, and the two presidents made a commitment to continue cooperation. Prime Minister Erdoğan welcomed the willingness of President Pahor to open the investment conference today in Istanbul, which is aimed at acquainting Turkish investors with current opportunities for investments in Slovenian enterprises, the development of more dynamic cooperation between the economies of the two countries and for possible joint participation in third markets.

President Pahor and Prime Minister Erdoğan also touched on some aspects of the Syrian crisis, which has led to more than 600,000 refugees fleeing to Turkey over the past few months. In this context, Prime Minister Erdoğan expressed his view on ending the armed conflict in the light of the forthcoming Geneva II Middle East peace conference, because without immediate action, these conflicts could turn into a regional conflict.


Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA