October marked by Slovenian-Dutch cooperation

Ljubljana, 2 October

The Focus '05 fifth annual month of cultural, political and economic events representing Slovenian-Dutch cooperation began with the presentation of flower arrangements by Slovenian and Dutch florists. Numerous events will be held on various stages in Slovenia throughout October. They have been arranged by the Dutch Embassy, the Dutch Ministry of Finance, the Dutch EVD Agency of International Cooperation, the Slovenian Ministry of Finance and Finance magazine, which will issue a special supplement on Dutch-Slovenian business cooperation.

The events will cover the fields of visual art, music, literature, politics, finance and entrepreneurship. The Dutch Embassy in Slovenia has held similar events since as early as 2001. "We do not prepare the Bilateral Focus programme only to shed light on specific examples of cooperation. Its purpose is also to encourage the increasing interdependency between the two peoples," Dutch Ambassador John Groffen, who took office a few months ago, said at the opening.
The numerous events will also include a visit to the company Adria Mobil. The Slovenian-Dutch Business Platform (SDBP) has arranged a business visit to this company for its members and representatives of the Dutch Embassy. There they will meet with Sonja Gole, the company's CEO and Slovenia's manager of the year for 2004. Europe's sixth largest manufacturer of trailers and caravans, with a 6.5% share of the European market, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and it will open new production lines on 7 October. From 19 to 21 October, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs will hold an annual conference dubbed elZZIVI, and the director of the Dutch Agency of International Cooperation, Ab Van Ravenstein, will pay a working visit between 20 and 21 October. He will meet with representatives of the Ministry of the Economy, the Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia, the Small Business Promotion Centre and the Government Service for European Affairs and with members of the SDBP. Van Ravenstein will open an international conference entitled "Public-Private Partnership – A Way Forward: how to muster experience and expertise to let principles and profits meet" (www.finance-on.net/ppp), which will be held at Ljubljana Castle on 20 October. The conference is one of the more important events within the Focus 05 programme. At the conference, Slovenian and Dutch experts from the worlds of public administration, academia and business will discuss the current state of public-private partnership in the Netherlands and Slovenia.
Together with the Government Information Office, the Government Information Office of the Kingdom of the Netherlands will hold a workshop entitled "Effective Communication" on 21 October. The information offices of the Republic of Slovenia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands have worked together for a number of years now. They are responsible for effective government communication in their respective countries. The purpose of this cooperation is a professional exchange of experience and know-how between public relations experts in public administration and the preparation and introduction of new methods of government communication in Slovenia. Both partners believe that effective government communication is an important factor of success in modern democratic society. This cooperation includes working visits, workshops and training, such as preparations for presiding over the European Union, the introduction of the euro, the development of a national call centre, the institutional development of government communication and professional training in the area of communication. The workshop is intended for public relations experts in public administration.
There will be numerous workshops, concerts, collective singing events, exhibitions and film screenings until the end of the month. Art lovers can expect events of the highest quality, such as the exhibition of paintings by 17th-century Dutch and Flemish painters, and World Press Photo 2005.

October marked by Slovenian-Dutch cooperation

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