President Sommaruga to pay official visit to Slovenia next week
Bern, 10.09.2015 - Switzerland and Slovenia have much in common and cultivate good and friendly relations. The most important aim of President Simonetta Sommaruga’s official visit to Slovenia on Tuesday and Wednesday next week (15-16 September) is to cement ties between the two nations and to expand bilateral and regional cooperation. This will be the first official presidential visit in five years.
President Sommaruga will be received by her Slovenian counterpart, President Borut Pahor, in Ljubljana on Tuesday. A working meeting with Prime Minister Miro Cerar is scheduled for Wednesday. The topics to be discussed include bilateral relations – focussing on the economy, education and research – as well as Switzerland’s relations with the European Union, Slovenia’s European policy, and challenges in asylum and migration policy. Furthermore, the potential for both countries to collaborate more closely in multinational committees, the Western Balkans and in alpine regions will also be explored.
Switzerland is second-largest investor
Relations between the two countries have intensified in recent years, in part due to Switzerland’s CHF 22 million enlargement contribution, which is being used to realise eight projects in Slovenia. During the visit, special attention will be paid to the results of this successful cooperation; a ceremony to mark the completion of a project on renewable energy sources in the Alpine region will take place at Bled Castle on Wednesday, and in Maribor President Sommaruga will be given a tour of the new radiotherapy facility at the University Medical Centre.
Economic relations between the two nations are thriving as well. Switzerland is the second-largest investor in Slovenia after Austria. Over 40 Swiss companies are active in Slovenia, employing over 10,000 people.
Together with Prime Minister Cerar, Ms Sommaruga will inaugurate a site built by generic drug producer Sandoz-Lek, which is part of the Novartis group, in Lendava in the east of Slovenia. Ms Sommaruga will take the opportunity to speak to employees and union members.
Meeting of the six heads of state of the German-speaking countries in Vaduz
Upon her return from Slovenia, President Sommaruga will attend a meeting of the six heads of state of the German-speaking countries Austria, Belgium, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Switzerland on 17 September. This year the venue, which rotates annually, is Vaduz. The main topic of this meeting will be the digital revolution and its effect on the labour market.
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