Ljubljana, 03 November (STA) - Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon lauded efforts to strengthen cooperation between Slovenia and Bavaria as she hosted Bavaria's state minister for European and international relations Eric Beisswenger on Monday. She would like to see further Bavarian investment in Slovenia, particularly in high value-added industries.
Beisswenger's visit is an excellent opportunity to continue talks on strengthening the Slovenian-Bavarian relations, especially when it comes to economic cooperation, Fajon said as quoted by her ministry in a press release.
Slovenia's economy has strong links with Germany's, particularly through the automotive industry.
"We're confident we can deepen cooperation in the field of reshaping the automotive industry, transport, space, artificial intelligence and research. What brings us together is a strong Slovenian community in Bavaria, the Permanent [Slovenian-Bavarian] Mixed Commission, which has been working for as many as 50 years, and excellent economic cooperation," Fajon said.
Slovenia's trade with Bavaria in 2024 totalled EUR 1.6 billion in exports and EUR 1.1 billion in imports, which accounts for almost 20% of total Slovenia-Germany trade.
The two ministers, who last met at the 34th session of the Permanent Slovenian-Bavarian Mixed Commission in Munich in June, discussed challenges facing the European economy.
They stressed the importance of strengthening the EU's strategic autonomy and sovereignty, resilience, and competitiveness.
They also talked about the current geopolitical situation, migration management, and the need for the bloc's enlargement to the Western Balkans.
Fajon pointed to a joint Slovenian-German initiative for decision-making by qualified majority at certain stages of the enlargement process.
Some 9,000 Slovenians live in Bavaria, the Slovenian foreign minister noted as she said that the visit affirmed great relations between Slovenia and the biggest German state. She would like to see efforts to further strengthen political dialogue and regular exchanges of views on topical EU issues.
