Economic Forum of the Carinthian Region 2023 - Are Slovenians an innovative nation?
How is the innovation culture developed in Slovenia, what is the impact of innovation culture on companies, and do we know how to market our innovations internationally?
These are just a few of the questions of the interview panel moderated by our CEO and owner Sandi Markon at the Economic Forum of the Carinthian Region. Last week's event was organised by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, the Municipality of Radlje ob Dravi, the MISS Slovenia Project and the Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia. The topic was sustainability, international networking and innovation.
He was joined on the panel by special guests:
- Mr. Roman Burja, Chief Executive Officer of TAB d.d.,
- Mr. Boštjan Gorjup, CEO of BSH Home Appliances,
- Mr. Matjaž Aberšek, innovator, entrepreneur, intellectual property expert,
- Mr. Rok Capl, Acting Director of the public agency SPIRIT Slovenia.
Simple. Offering solutions that others do not have
First, they talked about flood recovery in companies, where Roman Burja, Chief Executive Officer of TAB d.d., highlighted the damage caused to the company. After, he talked more about the company's innovation and their solution, the electricity storage e.storage L5.1, an innovation that has also received a gold award from the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He also stressed that the most important thing for TAB d.d. is to keep an eye on what is happening in the world and to offer solutions that many people do not yet have.
Boštjan Gorjup, CEO of BSH Home Appliances, highlighted the challenges that their company faced after the floods and how the crisis has brought them even closer together and encouraged them to establish production with all their suppliers as soon as possible. At the same time, he stressed the importance of knowing how to finance and manage stable water systems. The innovation he is most proud of is their espresso coffee machine, which has been developed over many years and currently accounts for more than half of the factory's revenue. He believes that Carinthia has a great potential for innovation, as the region has a rich tradition of industry, and that the third axis of development will offer the opportunity to develop different skills.
Matjaž Aberšek, innovator, entrepreneur and intellectual property expert, spoke about innovations that should be further developed in the light of the past situation with natural disasters in Slovenia. The lack of innovation, especially in public services (municipalities, etc.), is an area that could be improved or taken to a higher level. His wish for the future is to focus mainly on innovations that would help to prevent and predict natural disasters, while at the same time helping to build facilities that would be able to withstand disasters well.
Rok Capl, Acting Director of SPIRIT Slovenia, pointed out that SPIRIT Slovenia is helping to strengthen innovation, development and research through the calls for recovery and resilience plans. He also mentioned more than 95 million funds that the public agency has allocated to investment projects. Their vision is to continue with softer content and programming in a supportive environment. He is proud that Carinthia pays a lot of attention to young companies, so that they can use the start-up potential they have to execute their innovations. He also talked about an activity carried out by the agency, which he considers extremely important in relation to innovation culture, namely the promotion of the Slovenian economy abroad, through the national campaign Green. Creative. Smart. It is an attempt to present the Slovenian economy to the outside, foreign public, which, according to him, is smart and developmental. He adds that companies know how to work on their own, and their task is to further develop the support environment both at home and abroad.
Taking Sandi Markon's cue that Slovenians can make wonderful products and innovations, but often fail to monetise them, the guests concluded with a few words on product monetisation.
The CEO of TAB d.d. believes that the technical perfection of a product is not always a guarantee that it will reach the market. He points out that in such situations it is crucial to ask for help from more experienced individuals who can give good suggestions for successful market launches. Here, he emphasises the power of good marketing and educating young people about the basics of entrepreneurship. Boštjan Gorjup argues that Slovenia is good at quality and sophistication and that we know how to find our niche markets. He considers self-confidence to be the most important thing. Matjaž Aberšek believes that vision, strategy and goals are the most important. At the same time, he thinks that we are lacking a transfer of knowledge from the elderly to the young, as he is convinced that young people can take knowledge to a much higher level through digitalisation and technological know-how.
Diversity of content and speakers
In addition to the panel moderated by Sandi Markon, the forum also hosted two other comprehensive panels.
In the panel Sustainable Tourism and Forests, chaired by the Mayor of Radlje ob Dravi, mag. Alan Bukovnik, panellists were:
- Mr. Dominik S. Černjak - President of the Slovenian Tourist Board,
- Mr. Boštjan Paradiž - Director and co-owner of Kopa and Robeta, President of the Carinthian Chamber of Commerce,
- Mrs. Barbara Zmrzlikar - Head of Research, Development, Innovation and European Projects, WTO,
- Prof. Jurij Diaci - President of the Pahernik Foundation.
The panel focused on the future of tourism in Carinthia, green tourism and sustainable forest management. Mrs. Barbara Zmrzlikar presented the activities carried out in the field of sustainable tourism and the promotion of innovation, as well as the key promotional activities aimed at raising the
recognisability of the Carinthian region.
The (In)competitiveness of Carinthia
The second panel, Connectivity and Competitive Conditions of Carinthia, chaired by the Directress of the Carinthian Chamber of Commerce, Katja Pokeržnik, included:
- Mr. Matjaž Han - Minister, Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport,
- Dr. Emilija Stojmenova Duh - Ministress, Ministry of Digital Transformation,
- Mr. Tibor Šimonka - President of the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
- Mr. Blaž Cvar - President of the Slovenian Chamber of Crafts.
The discussion focused on the solutions that the government is working on in the context of flood reconstruction, the problem of excessive administration and limitations on encroachments, the public interest in development projects and the efforts to enforce the institution of waiting for work. Emilija Stojmenova Duh, Ministress for Digital Transformation, reminded that electronic communications are also part of critical infrastructure and announced that the government will address this issue in the flood recovery law, as Carinthia is one of the regions with the worst infrastructure coverage. For Carinthia, the 5G network could be a solution, due to the terrain configuration, the Ministress added.
Carinthia Region Economic Forum - a meeting point for ideas and initiatives
We are proud to have been able to actively participate as a partner in such a high-profile event, with strong guests, important topics and listening to the views of many experts from different fields. In joint discussions with the guests, we came up with good development proposals, important answers and addressed the challenges and opportunities of the Carinthian economy.