Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek will continue her two-day visit to France on Wednesday by meeting President Francois Hollande and attending a business conference at which she will present investment opportunities in Slovenia to French companies.
Bratušek and Hollande are expected to continue talks about the Brdo Process of cooperation of Western Balkan countries after the French president expressed his support for the process during his visit to Slovenia in July.
The pair is also scheduled to discuss preparations for the December EU summit, which will focus on the plans to establish a banking union and an agreement on a joint mechanism for bailing out banks, and on defence topics.
The third Slovenian-French top level meeting this year is part of the countries' bilateral cooperation within the strategic partnership signed in March 2011 by Prime Minister Borut Pahor and President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The investment conference in Paris is a follow-up to an investment conference in Germany's Düsseldorf last week. The investment roadshow will continue in Italy.
France, which is the fifth biggest investor in Slovenia, wants to further boost economic cooperation with Slovenia and increase its share of investments there, which is why Bratušek will present Slovenia's privatisation plans in Paris.
The French are interested in the food sector, the car industry and infrastructure, including the railways, tourism and hospitality as well energy projects, according to French Ambassador to Slovenia Pierre-Francois Mourier.
Bratušek is accompanied by Finance Minister Uroš Čufer and Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec, who are however not scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with their French counterparts.
Source: SloveniaTimes
