To have a competitive economy we must first ensure the effectiveness of our capital market, Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk told the participants of the two-day stock market conference that opened in the seaside resort of Portoroz (SW) on Thursday.
"Despite some problems, the capital market in Slovenia is well poised for continued growth, while the government-sponsored economic reforms programme and EU guidelines would enable it to prosper further," Bajuk explained.
Still, the Slovenian capital market is plagued by some problems, most notably liquidity, he warned. According to him, this calls for a strengthened role of institutional investors, tie-ups with other stock exchanges and compatibility of information exchange systems.
A development opportunity for Slovenia's capital market is also the planned gradual withdrawal of the state from the economy, as in case of a "fast withdrawal, domestic institutions might not be able to take part," Bajuk pointed out.
The minister also called for ensuring legal protection for small shareholders by strengthening the role of relevant institution and perhaps by establishing new ones, such as the small shareholders' ombudsman.
An important milestone for the Slovenian capital market will be the upcoming euro changeover, which the minister believes will have a beneficial effect on the capital market.
A panel of experts at the conference meanwhile stressed that state-owned companies must start operating in a transparent and flexible way as soon as possible, with their listing on the stock market a must.
According to Igor Masten of the Ljubljana Faculty of Economics, the state has little or no reasons for not listing the companies.
Erich Obersteiner of the Austrian bank Reiffeisen Centrobank meanwhile stressed that while listing the companies and attracting potential investors is a must, Slovenia should not neglect domestic buyers.
"Look at what happened to privatisation in Bulgaria, where they decided exclusively for foreign owners and have now remained without their own capital market," Obersteiner warned.
Keith Miles, a London-based financial adviser agreed that the best way to sell state property was through the local stock exchange.
The conference also saw home appliance group Gorenje conferred an award for being the most transparent company in dealings with investors. The award was jointly handed out by the Ljubljana Stock Exchange and the daily Dnevnik.
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