Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor began his three-day official visit to the State of Israel and the Palestinian Territories today. The visit is to strengthen the bilateral, especially economic relations and also multilateral relations between Slovenia and Israel as well as between Slovenia and the Palestinian authorities. The visits focused on the exchange of views on the Middle East peace process in the period leading up to the Palestinian application for UN membership and on the current developments in south Mediterranean.
Prime Minister Pahor met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the first day of his official visit to the State of Israel. Their talks concentrated on bilateral cooperation at the political, economic, tourist, transport, development and science and technology levels, multilateral cooperation and EU relations. In a press statement following the talks, Prime Minister Pahor declared that his colleague and he agreed on strengthening bilateral relations in three particular fields, i.e. high technology, tourism and student exchange.
Pahor also pointed out that Slovenia would like to attract more Israeli investment in diverse areas. The interlocutors also touched on the advantages of the Port of Koper as an access point to Europe and on the continuation of the peace process in the region. Prime Minister Pahor also stated that he learnt from his experience with the Arbitration Agreement that dialogue and trust are two key elements for success. At the end of the talks, the Slovenian Prime Minister wished his Israeli colleague successful negotiations, which will require a great deal of courage and political will on both sides.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu emphasised in his press statement that this meeting is an opportunity to strengthen all-round relations between the two states. He also pointed out, congratulated and praised Pahor for an important and - in his words - very instructive achievement by the Slovenian government - the Arbitration Agreement - especially as the two prime ministers met just before the referendum on the Agreement in Paris, in 2010. After the tête-à-tête talks, the two prime ministers continued their meeting with a working lunch, focusing on the situation in the Middle East.
In the afternoon, Prime Minister Pahor is to meet President Shimon Peres, opposition leader Tzipi Livni, and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. During this visit, the Prime Minister is to sign a Memorandum of Cooperation in tourism between the Slovenian Ministry of the Economy and the Israeli Ministry of Tourism.
Relations between Slovenia and the State of Israel are positive and traditionally friendly. The two countries have developed a diversified and intensive collaboration. Their relations could be strengthened in the fields of the economy (trade, investments, tourism), science, technology and development cooperation. Despite the traditionally positive bilateral relations in the economy, trade remains average. In 2010, Israel held the 31st place on the list of Slovenian major foreign trade partners and is Slovenia's major economic partner in the region. In 2010, trade increased significantly, accounting for EUR 132.8 million, while trade in services was worth EUR 28.9 million. Both countries also expressed common interest in humanitarian and development projects.
Prime Minister Pahor will continue his official visit to the State of Israel, also meeting Palestinian and Israeli businessmen and attending the opening of the Israeli-Slovenian Chamber of Commerce, where he will hold a speech. On Wednesday, 27 July 2011,
Prime Minister Pahor will conclude his travels with an official visit to the Palestinian Territories, where he will meet Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and President Mahmoud Abbas. As part of the visit to the Palestinian Territories, Prime Minister Pahor is to visit the Abu Raya Rehabilitation Centre and meet the representatives of the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land
Source: MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA
