The Minister of the Economy of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Matej Lahovnik, was born on 23 December 1971; he completed elementary school and the Secondary School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Velenje, where he still lives with his family.

He graduated in 1994 from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Ljubljana. He continued his postgraduate studies in general management and obtained his master's degree in 1998. Later on, in the year 2000, he took his doctorate with a thesis entitled Strategic factors of acquisition in economies in transition. As a visiting researcher he specialised at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. He has participated in a number of scientific and research projects, and is author or co-author of numerous contributions in the area of strategic management, which have been published in science and research reviews and presented at conferences; he is also co-author of two scientific monographs.He has recently been engaged particularly with issues of strategic management and acquisition of companies. Dr Lahovnik is an associate professor at the Ljubljana Faculty of Economics. In 2004, in the period from April to December he was appointed minister of the economy, while in the period 2004–2008 he, as a deputy, was vice-president of the parliamentary committee for monetary policy and public finance and a member of the committee for the economy and of the commission for budget supervision and other public finance. He was a member of the committee for foreign affairs, the Constitutional Commission and the Commission for the Rules of Procedure, as well as head of the Zares deputy group.

In last year's parliamentary elections, Matej Lahovnik was elected for the second time in a row to the National Assembly, and on 21 November 2008 he was appointed minister of the economy.

Mag. Darja Radić – born on 7 December 1965 in Jesenice and residing in Hrušica – graduated in 1989 from the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, with the thesis “Galbraith's analysis of modern capitalism”.  In 2001, she finished her master's course at the same faculty with the thesis “Proposed model of tourism organisation in the Kranjska Gora tourist destination”. In 1992, within a project of the Slovenian Ministry of Small Business, she completed a training programme at GEA College Ljubljana and obtained a certificate from the aforementioned ministry that she is qualified for providing counselling and promotion services for small businesses. In 2006, she became a research and development partner in the tourism research group at the College of Tourism in Portorož (Turistica), University of Primorska; she is registered as a researcher at the Slovenian Research Agency.  In the same year she became a habilitated senior college lecturer for tourism management, and vocational college lecturer for corporate economics and management. In 2008, upon the proposal of the Vocational College for Catering and Tourism in Bled she was awarded the title of vocational college counsellor for corporate economics and project management.  

From 1989 to 1994 she was employed by the Municipality of Jesenice.

From 1994 to 1996, she was employed by the construction company Gradbeno podjetje Grosuplje, d. d., as a controller of construction projects and the company’s internal units. Until the end of 1998 she worked for the Municipality of Kranjska Gora in the capacity of adviser for tourism and investments.

From 1999 to 2001, she was director of the Institute for the Promotion and Development of Tourism at the Municipality of Kranjska Gora. From 2001 to 2005, she was first state undersecretary and head of the Tourism Division and later secretary and head of Tourism Directorate in the Slovenian Ministry of the Economy.  From 2005 until 1 October 2008, she was head of the Project Implementation Service at the College of Tourism in Portorož (Turistica), University of Primorska. On 22 November 2008, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia appointed Mag. Darja Radić State Secretary with the Ministry of the Economy.