In this chapter, we study services and their unique characteristics. We focus on characteristics of services, such as intangibility, immateriality; invisibility; perishability; temporary existence, sensitivity on time; non storability; inseparability; lack of inventory; sensibility of quality control; high degree of risk or difficulty in experimentation; no return possibility at un-satisfaction; customisation requirements; different distribution channels; and no rivalry. We also analyse the relations between exports, investments in development and innovation activities of Slovene business services sectors in two statistically different periods (2002-2008 and 2010-2016). A two-step approach to examine the firms’ performance in the selected business non-financial services sectors was applied. First, we used Simple Probit model, and in the second step, Simultaneous Probit model was used. The preliminary results suggest that the investment in R&D activities encourages export behaviour and that the export behaviour encourages investment in R&D activities.

Development aid, one of the most important mechanisms for the redistribution of global wealth, represents financial flows with economic growth and social improvement as their primary objective. Recently, international development cooperation has been in the process of change that requires the involvement of new actors, the use of new instruments, and expanding the fields of work. In this article, the authors introduce the Slovenian model of international development cooperation, emphasising the criteria for deciding the direction of development cooperation. The criteria are clear interest of the beneficiary state, content priority fields, and geographical priority areas. The authors also discuss Slovenia’s active collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in international development cooperation. Special attention is given to three successful development projects in Africa that Slovenia recently financed. All three selected projects are based on principles of sustainable development and were realized in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.