At the opening ceremony, the Slovenian Prime Minister emphasised the often overlooked educational role of such fairs, which provide an opportunity for young people to become interested in engineering and scientific careers.

"The Celje Fair is the best indicator of the capacities of Slovenian industry, which are strong, and through these capacities we open up to the world," said the Prime Minister after visiting the fair. Fairs of this kind are an excellent opportunity to showcase innovation, flow of knowledge, international cooperation and exchange of best practices. This is one of the reasons why Prime Minister Golob called for the industrial fair to be held on an annual basis, not just every second year. He added that Slovenia is one of the most industrialised countries in Europe: "We are in the third place, after Ireland and the Czech Republic."

In his opening address, he recalled the importance of restructuring Slovenian and European industry. European industry has been the most restructured in historical terms, as a result both of the energy crisis and of the green transition. This is also a decisive moment for Slovenian industry, and he therefore called on entrepreneurs to take an active role in the green transition and restructuring. More than EUR 1 billion in grants are available to the economy for this purpose and should be used. 

Prime Minister Golob also touched on the issue of the labour shortages which Slovenia and the rest of Europe are facing. The economy will not be able to meet this challenge without the arrival of foreign labour force, and the Prime Minister referred to the current amendments to the Aliens Act, which remove obstacles to the employment of foreigners. "We need to organise the inflow of foreign labour and strengthen dialogue with the countries of origin," said the Prime Minister. He took the opportunity to announce the opening of a consular office in the Philippines to facilitate the arrival of Filipino workers in our country.