At press conference, the Government Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Growth presented its draft programme of work for 2006. The top priorities of the Office for Development in 2006 are tasks related to the coordination of government ministries and offices in the implementation of the reforms aimed at increasing employment, competitiveness and welfare in Slovenia.
Ten new working groups for the coordination of legislation have been established. Relevant draft laws and acts based on sixty-seven measures of the approved reform proposal are expected to be prepared by the end of the year.
One of the key priorities of the Government Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Growth is strengthening competitiveness, and to that end, tackling the biggest challenge, which is changing tax legislation in order to reduce the burden on labour and consequently increase investment in research and development, and improve the business environment. Also high on the list of priorities are measures that will enable businesses easier access to financial resources, and those that will expand and improve investment in human capital. On the one hand, these measures are aimed at increasing public funds for research and development, while on the other hand at making private investment more profitable. They are thus intended to encourage the formation of new universities and involve the private sector in their financing. The transparent withdrawal of the state from enterprise ownership, another of the key goals of the Government Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Growth, is aimed at improving the profitability of financial markets. The key priority in the area of the changing public finance is to raise state-funded support for research and development. In accordance with the approved framework package of reforms, another goal is to reduce public expenditure by 2% in the period to 2008.
Other key areas of work of the Government Office include measures related to workers, social transfers, healthcare and pensions. In terms of planning a national development policy, the Government Office strives to ensure consistency of development priorities of individual strategic documents with Slovenia's Development Strategy. At this point, it is worth noting that a large part of the reform package depends on reaching a consensus with social partners, and directly on the outcome of the negotiations on adopting a new Social Agreement.
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