Chapter 5: Slovenia

(continued)

5.5 Information Channels for Business Opportunities

Environmental professionals in Slovenia receive most of their information about business opportunities from personal contacts and from the Ministry for Environment. As shown in Table 5.13, other major information sources included fairs and trade shows, the daily press, direct mail, conferences and local authorities. Environmental publications and the chamber of commerce were also mentioned somewhat frequently as important sources of information.

TABLE 5.13: MOST IMPORTANT CHANNELS OF INFORMATION ABOUT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Information Channel	% of Respondents

Personal contacts	96%
Environmental Ministry	70%
Trade shows and fairs	61%
Daily press	61%
Direct mail	57%
Conference attendance	57%
Local authorities/municipalities	54%
Environmental publications	49%
Chamber of Commerce	43%
Professional associations	36%
Business publications	36%
International organizations	31%
Ministry of Economics/Trade	29%
Broadcast fax-service	26%
University/Academy of Sciences	24%
E-mail	20%
Commercial banks	7%

As Table 5.14 shows, more than 50 percent of environmental professionals participated in more than three conferences annually. Major reasons for attending conferences were to meet other professionals, to receive training, to learn about project opportunities and to find potential partners. The percentage of respondents citing various reasons for attending is shown in Table 5.15.

TABLE 5.14: ANNUAL CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE
Number of Conferences Attended Annually	% of Respondents

None	14%
1-2	29%
3-5	36%
6-10	6%
More than 10	15%

TABLE 5.15: MAIN REASONS FOR ATTENDING CONFERENCES
Reasons	% of Respondents

Meet others in the same fiels	68%
Participate in professional training	63%
Learn about new project opportunities	57%
Find potential partners	53%
Participate as speakers	44%
Marketing of firm's products	26%

When asked to name the most important professional associations, the largest portion of survey respondents (28 percent) mentioned the chamber of commerce. Other associations mentioned included the Association for the Protection of Waters, the International Association for Hydrogeology and the Association of Landscape Architects and Urban Planners. Important professional associations are listed in Table 5.16.

TABLE 5.16: MOST IMPORTANT PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Association	% of Respondents

Chamber of commerce and its associations (GZS)	28%
Association for the Protection of Waters	5%
IAH (International Association for Hydrogeology)	4%
Association of Landscape Architects and Urban Planners	3%
Ecological Association of Slovenia	3%
International PR Association	3%
IAWQ (International Association of Water Quality)	2%
ISWA (International Solid Waste Management)	3%

Tables 5.17-5.19 show the readership of various publications. The top environmental publications read by the survey respondents are Okolje and Gospodarjenje z odpadki, while the top business publications mentioned were Gospodarski vestnik, Uradni list RS. The most popular newspaper, Delo, was read by 63 percent of survey respondents. Other newspapers mentioned included Dnevnik and Vezer.

TABLE 5.17: READERSHIP OF ENVIRONMENTAL PUBLICATIONS
Environmental Publication	% Who Read

Okolje	16%
Gospodarjenje z Odpadki	13%
Environmental Science and Technology	6%
Gea	6%
Umwelt	5%
European Water Pollution Control	4%
Ujma	4%
Umanotera	4%

TABLE 5.18: READERSHIP OF BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS
Business Publication	% Who Read

Gospodarski vestnik	36%
Uradni list RS	19%
Manager	9%
Podjetnik	8%
Finance	7%
Obrtnik	6%
Glas gospodarstva	4%
Kapital	4%

TABLE 5.19: READERSHIP OF NEWSPAPERS
Newspaper	% Who Read

Delo	63%
Dnevnik	18%
Vezer	10%
Republika	9%
Primorske novice	3%

REC * PUBLICATIONS * EMERGING ENVIRONMENTAL MARKET 2 * SLOVENIA