“The reputation of a safe and orderly country that is able to take care of the health of the population, even in the event of a pandemic, is by far the best recommendation to have, in both tourism, and investments, with a significant part of production activities moving from Asia back to Europe,” the Prime Minister Janez Janša emphasized in his address to the citizens.
Janša reiterated that Slovenia is on the right track. “We are among the most successful countries in the world and the best in Europe, in terms of the results in the fight against the novel coronavirus epidemic. For now,” he said.
However, caution and responsible behaviour for oneself and towards others, he said, remain necessary. “As long as there is no effective medicine and/or vaccine available for everyone, our way of life will remain changed, at least in part,” he said. If Slovenia continues to be able to maintain a clean epidemiological picture and quickly and effectively limit individual outbreaks of infections, which, according to Janša, will surely occur, this will be a great advantage for our country, he continued.
“Dear citizens of Slovenia, fellow Slovenian women and men!
Slovenia is on the right track. This is our collective success. We are among the most successful countries in the world and the best in Europe, in terms of our results in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic. For now. But caution and responsible behaviour for oneself and towards others are still needed. As long as there is no effective medicine and/or vaccine available for EVERYONE, our way of life will remain changed, at least in part.
However, if Slovenia continues to be able to maintain a clean epidemiological picture and quickly and effectively limit individual outbreaks of infections, which will surely occur, this will be a great advantage for us. The reputation of a safe and orderly country that is able to take care of the health of the population, even in the event of a pandemic, is by far the best recommendation to have, in both tourism, and investments, with a significant part of production activities moving from Asia back to Europe. We have to thank the workers from our healthcare system for this advantage, so we expect additional public support in the coming months, while we will provide funds for emergency investments in Slovenian hospitals and upgrade the wage system in healthcare and nursing.
In order to make the most of the given and possible advantages, we are trying to eliminate the consequences of the epidemic as soon as possible. At the end of the month, some measures from the first two anti-corona legislative packages will expire, and some will be replaced by others. The Government is sending the third anti-
corona legislative package to the National Assembly, with which we will be allocating significant funds for the financing of part-time workers and the activities where there is less work, demand, and orders than there were before the crisis. The measures will be valid until the end of the year and will be extended if necessary. We will provide significant funds for it from the European funds and the state budget.
The epidemic has further accelerated the need for green restructuring in some sectors, such as the automotive industry. With the third legislative package, we are going to provide additional opportunities for research and development funding for such industries, along with other aid.
Instead of paying for those waiting for work in the tourism sector, we will encourage the revival of this sector with the tourist vouchers, which beneficiaries will receive and with which they will be able to pay for certain services in Slovenia until the end of the year.
In its latest forecast for Slovenia, the European Commission assessed the measures taken so far very positively. Because of the measures, it predicts a possible rapid recovery, with which, after this year’s significant fall in growth, we could grow back to almost a pre-crisis level next year. We will do everything we can to achieve this goal. In this case, Slovenia’s prosperity will not fall victim to a long-term recession, unlike what happened after the last economic crisis. We can make a significant contribution to this as a Government that implements or proposes the right measures. However, we can do the most by preserving the current, hard-won reputation of Slovenia as a safe and orderly country with a clean epidemiological picture. We will only be able to achieve the same results in the future if we continue to stick together.
Thank you.
