Ljubljana, 21 October (STA) - PM Marjan Šarec told MPs on Monday that China was Slovenia's most important Asian trade partner and that Slovenia wanted to further boost this economic cooperation. For exports to China to increase, new market niches need to be identified for high value added products to compensate for costs of transport and competition.

Brnik, 18 October (STA) - Iskra Mehanizmi, a development supplier for mechatronic solutions in the automotive, medical and home appliance industries, is feeling upbeat ahead of 2020 after lower than expected profit in 2019. In what is a EUR 30 million investment, the company is expanding production and relocating to Brnik, just off Ljubljana airport.

Ljubljana, 17 October (STA) - The construction of the long-awaited first Ikea shop in Slovenia has officially started as the foundation stone was laid on Thursday in the BTC shopping district in Ljubljana. The 31,000 square metre shop, which is expected to employ around 300 people, is to be completed in a year's time.

Yusen Logistics has opened a branch in Slovenia, anticipating an increase of traffic from the Far East. With the free trade agreement between Japan and the European Union, as well as the growing number of investments by Japanese companies in production capacities in Slovenia and nearby countries, the signs are there that investments will, indeed, intensify.

This year's factory of the year award, given out by the Slovenian daily Finance, was won by Ljubljanske Mlekarne (Ljubljana Dairy company).

This year’s Expo Real in Munich has put a big emphasis on innovation and digitization which was set in the new hall A3 - NOVA³, where a Slovenian start-up AgiliCity was also presented as part of the Tech Alley Startups. The company was among the five finalists in the Next City Solutions award.