Today, Minister Han met with the Executive Director of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), João Negrão. They discussed the cooperation of the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office with the EUIPO and the preparation of the EUIPO Strategic Plan 2030.

With the decision of the Government and confirmation at the Foreign Policy Committee, the Republic of Slovenia accepts the initiative to conclude an Agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) regarding the accession of the Republic of Slovenia to the Convention for the Establishment of the European Space Agency and related conditions.

State Secretary Sanja Štiglic and US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien hosted the fourth Strategic Dialogue between the two countries in Ljubljana. Established in 2020, the Slovenian-US Strategic Dialogue provides a framework for strengthening bilateral cooperation and exchanging views on all topical issues facing the international community.

Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon opened the Slovenia–China Business Forum in Shanghai. Accompanied by a 71-member business delegation, she continues her search for opportunities in the Chinese market. More than 100 Chinese companies took part in the Forum. Minister Fajon also met with Mayor of Shanghai Gong Zeng and opened the exhibition 'Plečnik's Ljubljana'.

An exhibition on the technological inventions that help us fight forest fires opens at the Kosovel House in Sežana today. Visitors can learn how firefighting equipment has evolved, see a mock-up of a Slovenian satellite that detects and monitors fires, try firefighting with 3D glasses and find out when the Karst region will be green again. The exhibition will run until 21 April and admission is free.

Minister Matjaž Han met Neale Richmond, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment of the Republic of Ireland, in Ljubljana. The two ministers discussed bilateral cooperation between the two countries and topical European issues in the areas of competitiveness, the future of European industry and the EU internal market.

The European Space Education Resource Office in Slovenia, ESERO Slovenia, was officially opened today at Center Noordung. ESERO Slovenia is run by the Centre for School and Outdoor Education (CŠOD) in partnership with Center Noordung. By integrating space technology content into primary and secondary education, we aim to increase young people's interest in science careers.

The European Commission Representation in Slovenia and the Recovery and Resilience Office today hosted the annual event of the Recovery and Resilience Plan in Slovenia. At the conference entitled Double Transition for Sustainable Economic Growth, the participants discussed the competitiveness of the Slovenian economy in light of the green and digital transition.

The European Commission has announced the New European Bauhaus Academy (NEBA), a pan-European consortium led by the University of Primorska and based at InnoRenew CoE, as the winner of the call for proposals for the establishment of a New European Bauhaus (NEB) Academy.

The Slovenian Intellectual Property Office and the Visegrad Patent Institute (VPI) today concluded a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at supporting the innovation ecosystems of Slovenia and the four VPI countries through joint activities.

At today’s gala event at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, SPIRIT Slovenia and the Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport presented awards to the best foreign investors who have achieved outstanding results and made a significant contribution to the development of Slovenian economy in the past year.

Today at the Space Summit in Seville, Spain, Slovenia presented a formal request for full membership of the European Space Agency (ESA). The request for membership, which follows the official decision of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia last Friday, was submitted today to the Director-General of ESA, Josef Aschbacher, by State Secretary at the Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport, Matevž Frangež, and the head of the Slovenian Space Office, Tanja Permozer, on the margins of the ESA ministerial meeting.

In the run-up to the 20th anniversary of Slovenia's membership of the European Union, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs organised the first debate entitled "Made in Europe, Made in Slovenia" on the future of industry in the context of green transition. In her opening address, Minister Tanja Fajon recalled that, in addition to the benefits of the membership, EU Member States also share some challenges, such as climate change and the green transition.

Slovenian companies directly or indirectly affected either by the crisis brought on through Russia's aggression against Ukraine or the energy crisis are offered new loans with favourable interest rates from SID Bank for investment and day-to-day business purposes.

The Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport paid €31.77 million in advance payments to compensate for damage to the economy caused by August’s floods and landslides. Advances were made to all eligible businesses that submitted a damage assessment to the Ministry by 1 September, requesting an advance payment of 10% of the estimated damage.

Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), is visiting Slovenia. He and Minister Han discussed the preparation of Slovenia's first national intellectual property (IP) strategy. This will help to improve understanding and respect for intellectual property rights and, as a result, improve the environment for innovation and a competitive economy.

Tomorrow marks 23 years since the Slovenian anthem was heard at the Olympic Games for the first time. This was a very important event in Slovenian history, which is why this date was chosen as the day to celebrate Slovenian sports. To mark this year’s Day of Slovenian Sport, the Bank of Slovenia has issued a new collector coin.

Minister of the Economy, Tourism and Sport Matjaž Han today visited Carinthia as part of his tour of the border regions that form Slovenia's economic hinterland. As part of the Slovenian Minority Business Coordination, the Minister aims to strengthen economic cooperation with the regions along Slovenia's border, as these regions account for 30% of trade with neighbouring countries.

One of four semesters of the new international postgraduate study programme examining the physiology and medicine of humans in space and extreme environments will be implemented in Slovenia as part of the SpaceMed Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters. The University of Caen Normandy (France), the Charité – University Medicine Berlin (Germany) and the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School (Slovenia) have joined forces in the programme.

The signing of the Working Agreement between the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office and the European Patent Organisation on search co-operation will enable applicants to obtain quality information more quickly in patent grant procedures. Applicants for European and international patent applications will be able to obtain additional financial benefits for an invention that has been pre-examined by the European Patent Office.