H.E. Darja BavdaŽ Kuret, Ambassador of Slovenia to India

Ms Darja has varied work experience of 34 years. She has worked at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia as Coordinator and Chair of the European Union—Capitals Working Group Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Belarus during Slovenia’s Presidency of the EU Council. She has also been Secretary General of the Bled Strategic Forum for 2 years

Please let us know about Slovenia’s bilateral trade and economic relations with India…

The economic and bilateral trade between Slovenia and India is only 1 per cent of cooperation that we have. The political relations and Government to Government relations between the two countries are excellent. Slovenia is a relatively young country, it is only 24 years old but nevertheless we have managed to establish excellent political dialogue with India, both individually and as a member of the European Union. Last year the trade amounted to about 130 million Euros. However, Slovenia is a market of 2 million people but we have access to the 500 million people market as a member of the European Union. So you can see the strength of potential bilateral business to present Slovenia as a hub for Indian exports to European Union, especially Central European countries. Slovenia has a port of Koper, Capodistria which represents the shortest way from Indian Ocean to Central Europe, especially the land locked countries of Central Europe. So within a range of 500 km from Koper lie Vienna, Budapest, Munich and Brasschaat. Koper is an advantage as it makes the trip shorter by 7 sailing days, cheaper by half a million, and the environment is friendlier. With this we would like to offer India, a hub for its exports and vice versa for India’s inputs.