As per an article written some months ago, 2011 is supposed to be the year when th ECo-C finally makes it to Slovenia; we at eco-c.eu had subsequently investigated the potential thereof for the Slovenian labour market. A recent article, published in the magazine „Slovanienan Business Opportunities“, which is issued by that country’s chamber of commerce, returns to highlight the importance accorded locally to initiatives such as the ECo-C.

I quote: „Appropriate Communication and particularly mutual sympathy account for over half of business success. […] Mastering  „business protocol“ is an expression of respect towards the business partner and testifies to one’s knowledge of the rules of international relations“ (by A. N. Knezevic,   http://www.gzs.si/katalog/gzs_sbo.html )

This is not news; Slovenia’s chamber of commerce created a „centre for construction and technological training“ on the heels of the country’s independence, in 1991; in 2003, this transformed into the „Centre for Business Training“, indicating a growing awareness of the importance of general business skills, including, as the article clearly indicates, social competency. Subsequently, the Chamber sought to increase the flow of information and professional skill by instituting the Infopika consultancy center, meant to provide a single source of business advice to applicants; in recent years, the number of such centers was increased, showing that the program has been successful.

This of course does not erase the problems of the Slovenian job market. However, the introduction of the ECo-C should most certainly help resolve some of the issues reported to the EU in 2007: as a certificate that is the same all over the EU, benefitting from a perfectly transparent, high-quality evaluation process, the ECo-C will clearly benefit the country’s labour market.

Whether this means that the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce will realise the opportunity before it, and support the ECo-C as much as the Austrian Chamber of Commerce has, remains to be seen.