• May 1993 •
Made in Germany, made in Taiwan, made in Slovenia. A tiny inscription on the product which can either raise or lower its price, add to its value or give a subjective quality to its appearance and the impression it makes. The reputation of, or trust in, the country of origin are evaluated in the information of where the product came from. Slovenia, which first appeared on the political map of Europe as late 1945 as one of the Yugoslav republic, was only able to label its products “Made in Slovenia” after 26th June 1991, when it finally cut off its tie with the Balkans, and went its own way. Actually, it did not start from scratch. In former Yugoslavia, Slovene products had a special price. Although Slovenes represented only eight percent of the Yugoslav population, Slovenia exported almost one third of all goods exported from Yugoslavia. Slovenia, the westernmost Yugoslav republic, the most developed and the most favourably comparable to the rest of Europe, had a long industrial tradition reaching far back before the unfortunate Balkan “marriage”. In Austria-Hungary, when all the Slovenes were for the last time united in a single state, the goods produced in the Duchy of Carniola were highly appreciated.
Blacksmiths from Kropa, joiners from Šentvid and Solkan, shoemakers from Tržič, lace-makers from Idrija, weavers from Bela Krajina, gunsmiths from Borovlje, wine producers from Dolenjsko, the Kras and Štajersko, glassblowers from Rogaška Slatina all helped sustain the reputation. A sausage produced in Kranjsko – Kreiner wurst – is still the name used for a delicious sausage known throughout the former empire. However many things have changed since then. When economic growth started in the second half of the sixties, many factories were built in Slovenia: Tomos which produced the best-selling small outboard motor in Europe; Elan which was among the three largest ski producers in the world; Adria which made and sold ten percent of all caravans in Europe; Alpina – one of the greatest exporters of skiing boots in the American market; Mehanotehnika which was among the five greatest producers of mechanical toys in the world; Iskra which designed a telephone which received the greatest number of awards, was most frequently imitated and was the world’s best-seller; Gorenje, producer of household appliances, which acquired the German company Koerting, and has a twenty-five percent share in the Australian refrigerator market. All the products were, of course, made in Yugoslavia. “Made in Slovenia” is a novelty which has existed less than two years in European and world markets.
How much water will have to pass beneath the bridge before it is known to a wider public, to consumers?
In these hard times and adverse circumstances Slovenia is establishing its reputation in the world. The Slovene economy has lost half (the better half!) of its markets, and is entering world markets at a time of serious global recession, unfavourable conditions, great changes related to privatization, the high cost of building up a young state, unemployment, war refugees. In the small Slovene market of two million people, which is accessible to products from the entire world, it is very hard to find impetus for great, ambitious projects. In many ways Slovenia is starting from scratch. But everything will work out. Xantia, Citroen’s car for the coming millennium, contains fifty components which are made exclusively by Cimos, from Koper/Capodistria; the seats of the new BMW’s are made in Murska Sobota, forgings in Zreče; laser measuring instruments used in Swedish tanks were made in Ljubljana; many clothes of exclusive world trade-marks are made in “the largest and the best sewing plant in the developed world” – Mura. It is hardly a coincidence that scientific apiculture originated in Slovenia, and that a Carniolan bee (Apis mellifica carnica) is a synonym for diligence.
“A nation with four million hard-working hands need not worry for its future” was the slogan on the posters inviting citizens to the plebiscite to decide whether or not Slovenia was to become an independent state. Ninety-three percent of Slovenes voted in favour.
Jure Apih
