e d'Affaires J. Paul REID
embassy: address NA, Ljubljana
mailing address: P.O. Box 254, Prazakova 4, 1000 Ljubljana; American
Embassy Ljubljana, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-7140

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of white (top),
blue, and red with the Slovenian seal (a shield with the image of
Triglav, Slovenia's highest peak, in white against a blue background
at the center, beneath it are two wavy blue lines depicting seas and
rivers, and above it, there are three six-sided stars arranged in an
inverted triangle which are taken from the coat of arms of the
Counts of Celje, the great Slovene dynastic house of the late 14th
and early 15th centuries); the seal is located in the upper hoist
side of the flag centered in the white and blue bands

Economy

Economy--overview: Today, Slovenia exhibits one of the highest per
capita GDPs of the transition economies of the region, fairly
moderate inflation, and a comfortable level of international
reserves. Slovenia received an invitation in 1997 to begin accession
negotiations with the EU--a reflection of its sound economic footing.
Slovenia must press on with privatization, enterprise restructuring,
institution reform, and liberalization of financial markets, thereby
creating conditions conducive to foreign investment and the
maintenance of a stable tolar. Critical to the future success of the
economy is the development of export sales in increasingly
competitive international markets.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$20.4 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: 3.6% (1998 est.)

GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$10,300 (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 5%
industry: 35%
services: 60% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 4%
highest 10%: 24.5% (1993)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8% (1998 est.)

Labor force: 857,400

Labor force--by occupation: NA

Unemployment rate: 7.1% (1997 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $8.48 billion
expenditures: $8.53 billion, including capital expenditures of $455
million (1996 est.)

Industries: ferrous metallurgy and rolling mill products,
aluminum reduction and rolled products, lead and zinc smelting,
electronics (including military electronics), trucks, electric power
equipment, wood products, textiles, chemicals, machine to