Proposals to increase competitiveness, cohesion and employment in tourism, technology and health care, and supported by the EU Innovation Coach project, were presented on Wednesday.
The projects form the basis of a public-private partnership that would also be able to run for EU funds in the bloc's 2007-2013 financial plan, explained Vanja Rangus, the head of Ljubljana's Department for Economic Development and Tourism.
In the area of tourism, a total of 13 projects, worth EUR 36m, are currently planned with participants ranging from state institutions to NGOs. The aim of the projects is to develop Slovenia's tourist potential, including establishing a new tourist innovation centre, Rangus added.
Proposals for technological projects mostly refer to technological parks, incubator and innovation centres. The projects also provide for modernisation of services alongside various scholarships, subsidies, easier access to venture capital and other benefits.
Projects in health care are worth around EUR 25m and are aimed at more efficient use of the existing human, space and infrastructure potentials, at market orientation of health care services, the developing of the educational system aimed at prophylactic, and joining of hospitals, institutes and businesses in a consortium, she revealed.
The partners in the projects should prepare the financial plans by November, so they will be able to acquire funds from the Ljubljana municipality, Rangus explained.
The Innovation Coach project was designed by the European Commission to encourage and carry out regional strategies in the fields of innovation, education and business. It also provides for close cooperation between domestic and foreign experts.
Ljubljana Mayor Danica Simsic and Marjan Hribar, the head of the tourism directorate at the Ministry of the Economy, also signed a statement pledging their support for the projects.
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