The Public Agency for Entrepreneurship and Foreign investment is expected to open this year Slovenian branch offices in Duesseldorf, Bucharest, Istanbul and Milan, the first such Slovenian trade offices in the world.
Offering a wide range of services, the trade offices will be particularly tailored to meet the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Meanwhile, the agency has promised that additional trade offices would be opened in the coming years.
The selection of the cities was based on a number of factors: entry barriers for SMEs, demand growth for major Slovenian exports, potential foreign investors, labour potential and market growth in general.
"The decision on the locations was taken based on an economic survey of the expected benefits and the plans of the trade office," the agency said.
Each trade office will employ three people: two Slovenian officials as well a domestic marketing and enterprise expert.
The basic operations of the trade offices will be financed from the state budget, with SIT 144.7m (EUR 604,000) earmarked for this purpose this year. Over time, the offices will charge the users for its services - in four years, the offices intends to cover 20% of its costs through sales.
Among other things, the trade offices will carry out analysis of the market as well as look for suitable business partners for Slovenian companies.
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