InvestSlovenia

NOTRANJSKO-KRAŠKA REGION

Facts and figures:

Source: SORS, 2008

1. Location and transport

The Notranjsko-Kraška Region lies in the southern part of Slovenia and borders on Croatia. It is conviently placed and easily reached from all principal towns such as Ljubljana, Koper, Gorica (I), Triest (I) and Rijeka (CRO).

2. Population

With the population of 51,000, the Notranjsko-Kraška Region is the smallest Slovenian region.

Education structure of population aged 15 - 64 in the Notranjska-kraška Region

Source: Statistical Yearbook, 2007

3. Towns

The regional centre is Postojna (15,000 inhabitants) connected with the coastal town of Koper and Ljubljana by the motorway (a 20 minute drive) and railway.

Other principal towns include Ilirska Bistrica (14,200) and Cerkno (10,600).

4. Economy

The most vigorous economic growth is enjoyed by metal-processing industry that also accounts the largest market share. It is followed by the wood-processing industry and given the fact that timber is the region’s natural resource, this is a long-term factor of the economic development. The chemical industry is the region’s second best attribute. Due to bankruptcies of a few of the region’s leading companies (some of them in the wood-processing industry), the region has lost its economic strength and is trying to revive entrepreneurship, particularly as regards services. Thanks to good transport connections, the share of daily migration to other regions, particularly those with high qualifications, is quite high.

With Slovenia’s membership of the EU, this region stands a good chance as a border region of the EU to expand and add value to its service sector where transport and transport-related services promise most.

There is plenty of potential for the development of tourism thanks to relatively scarce number of people per square kilometre and pristine nature. One can hardly get enough of the natural beauties and the phenomena such as Postojna Caves or Cerkniško jezero (lake).

5. Companies

The most important companies operating in the region include:
Liv Postojna, Kovinoplastika, Ydria Motors, Brest Pohištvo, Pivka Perutninarstvo, Plama-Pur, Lesonit, Rotoloz, Novolit, Javor, Plaming, Transport, Dynacast, Gozdno gospodarstvo Postojna