The first part of the session saw the ministers formally sign the new decision on the establishment of the Council, approve permanent Council members and appoint two secretaries.

Minister Cerar said that he was looking forward to cooperating within the Council, as the two ministries had already established a successful partnership. “We support the diversification of Slovenian exports and will concentrate our efforts on opening new diplomatic missions and enhancing bilateral political relations to support the interests of Slovenian businesses,” he added.

Minister Počivalšek stressed that “an interesting year full of challenges lies ahead in the international arena, so it is essential for our open economy to closely follow foreign policy and international relations and to adapt as required”.

The Council addressed the technical issues from the remit of both ministries with a view to ensuring coordinated action by all stakeholders, governmental and non-governmental, who are striving for the internationalisation of the Slovenian economy.

The two ministries described last year's activities, outlining intensified cooperation with Hungary, Germany and Poland; as to non-European countries, activities focused mostly on increasing collaboration with Japan, China and Vietnam. Cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) was also strengthened. Activities planned for the first half of 2020 were presented.

The ensuing discussions centred on the baselines contained in the Government programme for investment promotion and internationalisation of the Slovenian economy for the period 2020–2024, which aims to provide effective support for an intensive internationalisation of Slovenian companies. Programme baselines were drafted by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology in cooperation with all key stakeholders and Deloitte, which was selected at the European Commission’s call for applications for which the Ministry had registered. Working towards a comprehensive goal establishing Slovenia internationally as a green, creative and smart economy, programme baselines will be submitted for inter-ministerial coordination. The programme is focused on five strategic objectives: export diversification and sustainability, sustainable foreign direct investment with high added value, increased investment, Slovenia as an economic brand and excellent support system.

Guided by its aspirations to establish itself as a sustainable and also technologically advanced and innovative country, Slovenia is planning to take part in Expo 2020 Dubai, which brings together 194 participating countries. Between 20 October 2020 and 10 April 2021, Slovenia will be among the 83 countries presenting themselves in their own pavilions to maximise economic development opportunities. The project worth EUR 9.7 million excluding VAT is led by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology. The SPIRIT public agency has played an active role in the preparations.