We heard your inspiring speech at the opening ceremony of the 4th China-Central and Eastern European Countries Expo in Ningbo in the Spring this year. Tell us about the significance of the presence of Slovenia this year.

Slovenia is most honoured and privileged to have been invited as the guest of honour to the fourth CEEC China Expo this year. It is an amazing opportunity to showcase our best and most innovative technologies, but also to specify that we, as a small country, are actually a big country of great minds.

We have businesses that are thriving, but we are also looking to expand our relationship with the CEE countries and especially with our friends in China. We see China as Slovenia’s biggest Asian strategic partner. We have almost 7 billions US$ in imports coming from China. We have a slight imbalance in the export, and this is also a platform where we can try to make more business contacts and enter the Chinese market. So, for Slovenia, this is really an amazing opportunity.

We’re most grateful to our Chinese friends. We have a strong standing relationship with the People’s Republic of China since 1992, when diplomatic relations were established, and we think that the basis for good economic development is friendship, and we see that here.

Which are the most important fields of cooperation between China and Slovenia in the future?

We promote sustainable development, green technologies, but also want to have a greater impact in tourism, with guests in China, and vice versa. We want to promote our automotive and automobile technologies. The trend will be smart innovation, green technology, automotive, business, but also tourism.

Slovenia’s Luka Koper, and cooperation with China in international transport, is one of the key pillars. What are your comments about the future cooperation in that field?

We think that Luka Koper has an extremely important geostrategic position in Europe. We like to call Luka Koper “The window to the world”. I come from Piran, which is a city that is ten minutes away from Koper.

During this visit, I was also privileged to visit the port in Ningbo, and Ningbo is a sister city of Koper, so it was special for me to be able to visit it. We are also one of the partners with the Port of Ningbo. We think that there’s a stronger potential for a larger corporation there because of Ningbo being one of the most important ports in Asia.

When it comes to Luka Koper, we are looking forward to deepening the ties under the Belt and Road initiative because we think that’s also one of the ways forward. That’s a great initiative that was proposed by China, and we see it as a platform for positioning Luka Koper as one of the most strategic partners of Ningbo Port. 

Watch the video titled “Electric planes, foldable skis: Slovenian officials show us the future” featuring The State Secretary at the Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport of Slovenia, Matevž Frangež, and The Vice-President of The Slovenian National Assembly Mag. Meira Hot speak about Slovenia. The video is produced by CGTN, an international media organization that aims to provide global audiences with accurate and timely news coverage, as well as rich audiovisual services, thereby enhancing cultural exchanges and mutual trust between China and other countries.

“At the 4th China-Central and Eastern European Countries Expo in Ningbo, CGTN’s Cui Yingjie teams up with Meira Hot, the Vice-president of the Slovenian National Assembly, and State Secretary Matevž Frangež to showcase Slovenia’s cutting-edge green tech — from electric aircraft and foldable skis and beyond. Get ready to be amazed by all things Slovenian!”

Link to video