| Territory |
The HiCo territory is located around the Italian/Slovenian border, which historically was a line of demarcation between East and West and today is at the centre of the Europe of 25. Crossed by the European communication routes (pan-European transportation corridor 5), and thanks to its strategic geographical position, the HiCo Region is an ideal logistic centre and crucial nodal point for trade flows between Western and Eastern Europe.
Friuli Venezia Giulia is part of the well-known Italian North East, which has represented an economic model to be imitated anywhere in the world for more than ten years.
Goriška, Obalno-kraška and Gorenjska are three Slovenian regions characterized by a high rate of development and a great industrial concentration.
The four regions feature a great concentration of industrial settlement areas, advanced education institutes and research bodies and laboratories, and show an evident attention to the theme of knowledge transfer. Furthermore, they offer several types of incentives to companies intending to settle on their territory.
Thus, the HiCo Region guarantees remarkable opportunities to national and international enterprises intending to invest in technological innovation of processes and products.
|
The Friuli Venezia Giulia RegionFriuli Venezia Giulia covers an area of approximately 7,858 Km2 and has a population of about 1,202,000 inhabitants. It is one of the five Italian special status regions (i.e. regions empowered with a particular territorial jurisdiction). With a GDP per capita almost reaching 25,000 euro, a total workforce of approximately 754,000 units and an unemployment rate of 2.7% (Istat data, 2003), FVG is one of the most advanced regions in the European Union.
The industrial sector is characterized by a network of 100,000 small and medium-sized enterprises and several great international companies, which have become highly competitive thanks to their highly qualified workforce and cutting-edge innovation system. The presence of well-established clusters and highly competitive companies in traditional manufacturing sectors goes hand in hand with rapidly increasing competences in sectors with a high rate of development, such as biotechnologies, nanotechnologies and ICT. These allow Friuli Venezia Giulia to rank fourth among Italian regions for innovation rate.
Companies choosing this region can benefit from a wide range of financing and incentives, provided at regional and national level and varying according to amount and type of investment.
Furthermore, the territory hosts 3 universities with 40,000 students and a good number of research institutions. The ratio of researchers to 1,000 workers can be compared to that of the USA and Japan, as it is twice the EU average.
The Goriška region covers a 2,325 Km2 area and has approximately 120,000 inhabitants.
Most workplaces are offered by industry but the rapid economic and cultural development of the area of Nova Gorica, the regional capital with a population of 36,200, as well as the proximity of the region to the Italian North East, are leading to a promising increase in the sector of services.
The most successful production areas are those of electric instruments, food and furniture, for a total of approximately 2,000 companies.
In 2003, the unemployment rate was 6.4%, the lowest in Slovenia. The workforce is highly qualified, also thanks to the Nova Gorica Polytechnic, which educates and trains students in the fields of environmental protection, economics, engineering and applied sciences.
Membership of the European Union contributed to the development of transport and logistics services, especially among Slovenian and Italian companies operating at the two sides of the border.
The Obalno-Kraška region covers a 1,044 km² area with 105,000 inhabitants, of which 49,000 are resident in Koper, the regional capital.
There is a multi-cultural population with a strong Italian minority.
Economically and socially, Obalno-Kraška is one of Slovenia’s most advanced regions as well as the only one overlooking the sea. This factor is highly exploited through the port of Koper.
The sector of services generates 70% of the gross regional product and is the most developed, while the sector of production employs 30% of the workforce. The region features a total of 2,400 companies. Trade, production and processing industries (agro-food, cars, furniture), transportation, services for companies and tourism are the strong points of the local economy.
The new Primorska University (Università del Litorale) hosts more than 5,000 students, most of them enrolled at the Management School or Tourism School.
The HiCo Region extends to include Gorenjska, with the municipalities of Kranj and Kranjska Gora.
Gorenjska has a total population of 198,000 on a surface of 2,137 km². The regional capital is Kranj (51,000 inhabitants), cradle of industrialization in Slovenia and local basis for important foreign investors (Siemens, Goodyear). It also features the Faculty of Organizational Sciences of the University of Maribor.
Out of a total of approximately 3,500 enterprises, 35% is active in trade, 20% in production and 20% in services for companies and in tourism (Kranjska Gora). Gorenjska is a strong exporter of shoes and processed leather.
In 2003, the unemployment rate was 8.3% and the average gross salary was 243,330 SIT per month.
Gorenjska features excellent railway connections (Pan-European Transport Corridor no. 10) and a motorway link passing through the Karavanke tunnel towards Austria to the North and heading to Ljubljana to the South.
Kranj is only 5 km away from Ljubljana Airport.
