On Thursday, September 15, 2016, AmCham Slovenia held a regular General Assembly, the 18^th in a row. AmCham Slovenia presented what’s new and elected three members of the Board of Governors; Enzo Smrekar, Droga Kolinska, Janko Medja, Elektronček and Maria Anselmi, Bisnode.

President of AmCham Slovenia, Nevenka Kržan, who has been chairing the organization for the second consecutive year, pointed out that AmCham Slovenia is one of the most active business communities and highlighted a number of projects, which she is especially proud of: "The program which I am very proud of is certainly AmCham Young Professionals™. The youth, full of potential, are our source of inspiration and optimism. They represent new challenges. They independently formed a group called Snow Ball" with the goal to help shape Slovenia as a country of opportunities and optimism.”

H.E. Brent R. Hartley, U.S. Ambassador to Slovenia, pointed out that it is his great pleasure for the Embassy to work closely with AmCham Slovenia. He also emphasized the importance of deepening relations and economic ties between Slovenia and the U.S., and expressed support for the Business Development delegation to the Silicon Valley, taking place between 20 and 24 September 2016.

AmCham Slovenia introduced several innovations during the General Assembly, both visual and content-related. A new look and a motto "Inspiring positive change." Executive Director Ajša Vodnik, MSc, emphasized that AmCham Slovenia will put an even greater focus on values, which are already lived by through their work. She further stressed: "I am pleased that our AmCham business community members identified the value of optimism as key, with cooperation, trust, passion and creativity being equally important." Web-users will be able to browse our new website and we have enlarged the AmCham team. Ms. Vodnik is proud of the work of AmCham Slovenia in the past year. She promises that the next year will continue to see many positive changes and by this an even more favorable business and living environment in Slovenia.

Revitalized and new AmCham Committees will give an even greater focus on the opportunities presented by digital transformation, and on recognizing the potential of the "Slovenia, a green reference country in digital Europe" initiative.

New/Revitalized AmCham Committees are:

• Health and Wellbeing Committee

• Finance Committee

• Intellectual Property Committee

• Future of Work and Education Committee 

• Corporate Ethics and Transparency Committee 

• Ready4DFuture Task Force

• Investment Committee 

• Circular and Shared Economy Committee

The participants were also addressed by the winner of the 6^th  generation of AmCham Young Professionals™, Top Potential of the Year 2016 Nina Langerholc Čebokli, Head of Cabinet of the Minister of Public Administration. "Even in the public administration, there are individuals who are daring and who want changes and such changes are always based on cooperation. Businessmen are not familiar with the procedures and work of the public administration – and vice versa. We are pleased to cooperate well with AmCham Slovenia, to exchange knowledge and experience, thereby building a bridge between the public administration and the private sector/businesses." She also emphasized the importance and added value of the Partnership for Change program: "By bringing together employees from the public administration and the business sector, we are changing the culture. We are creating a new culture. It is invaluable to experience real changes and to get a positive feedback, knowing that things are moving in the right direction. We are emphasizing cooperation and I am glad that cooperation is regarded as one of the key values ​​of AmCham Slovenia. The partnership, which we are establishing, is based on trust. This can be achieved with a clear, open and constant communication. We are building a human relationship between the business sector and public administration. Therefore, my message for today is: "Let's cooperate, because we can only get far by working together."

According to the AmCham Slovenia Statute, the winner of AmCham Young Professionals™ automatically becomes a member of the Board of Governors. This year, however, the position was filled by this year’s second-ranked, Petra Novak, because Nina Langerholc Čebokli, as a representative of the public administration, cannot be representing the interests of the private sector. Representatives of AmCham Slovenia member companies with the right to vote, elected three members of the Board of Governors, who received the following support: Enzo Smrekar 76.6%, Janko Medja 73.3% and Maria Anselmi 70%.

Autumn in AmCham Slovenia will be very active, starting from next week, with the Business Development Delegation heading to the Silicon Valley, where participants will meet the developers and creators of the newest trends in digital transformation. AmCham Slovenia will also be a proud host of the European-wide AmChams in Europe conference, while on November 8, we will be following the U.S. presidential elections together.

See the photo gallery HERE.