State secretary visits companies of Slovenians in Argentina
Buenos Aires, 3 November - State Secretary at the Government Office for Slovenians Abroad Vesna Humar met with representatives of the Slovenian-Argentinian Chamber of Commerce and Industry during her visit to Argentina. She also visited three companies run by Slovenians in Argentina and visited the a Slovenian care home.
Ljubljana,
Vesna Humar, sate secretary at the Office for Slovenians Abroad.
Photo: Katja Kodba/STA
File photo
Humar visited one of the facilities of Interpack, a company from the HZ Group, founded by Slovenian entrepreneur Herman Zupan, in Buenos Aires.
Zupan was a major financial supporter and an exceptionally active member of the Slovenian community in Argentina. His work and support for the community is continued by his son, Hernan Zupan, also a successful entrepreneur and honorary Slovenian consul in Buenos Aires, the government office said in a press release.
The company is a leading packaging producer in Latin America and the largest in Argentina. It supplies major international groups such as McDonald's and Unilever. HZ employs almost 2,000 people in its factories in Argentina, Brazil and Chile.
The state secretary also visited the metallurgical company Talleres Crovara, founded in 1959 by Jože Kržišnik. Today, the company is run by the second and third generations of the Kržišnik family. It employs nearly 40 people.
Humar also met representatives of the Slovenian-Argentinian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The chamber, founded in 2021, has more than 30 members. The meeting was attended by the members, chairman Martin Križ and some of Slovenia's most prominent entrepreneurs, including Tone Malovrh, owner of Briganti, a large trading companies, which Humar also visited.
She expressed support to the chamber's activities, pointing to the great potential of this kind of cooperation. This benefits both the Slovenian community in Argentina and Slovenia, the office said.
On Sunday, the Slovenian Day, the biggest event of the Slovenian community in Argentina, took place in the Argentinian capital. It was attended by almost 700 people.
An estimated 30,000 Slovenians and their descendants live in Argentina. Most Slovenians live in Buenos Aires, San Carlos de Bariloche, Mendoza, Parana and Rosario.