The selection was made at the cosmopolitan Cannes, France, from 468 European cities and regions which participated. Receiving such recognition means a lot, but it will mean even more if the people from Pomurje know how to take advantage of the acknowledgement.

It seems that in Lendava they know. Not only have they recently attracted several economic Investors – after all, the Japanese have taken over the local Varstroj – but their prospects are good in hotel trade and tourism. A businessman from Venice will soon open an Italian restaurant in the centre of the city. Everything is almost ready for the opening, and according to unofficial information he has spent approximately four million euros for the project. So Lendava won’t any more represent only crossroads of Slovenian, Croatian, and Hungarian culture, but of Italian as well.

Anton Balažek, the mayor of Lendava municipality, is enthusiastic: "If a businessman from Venice recognizes the advantages of our region, it will bring others as well. The premises are not open yet, and already Italian businessmen are taking turns here.”

Obviously these same arguments convinced also the jury of the respectable Financial Times, i.e. natural wealth, natural gas and geothermal energy, proximity of the highway and of the three countries, cheap, but quality work force…"It is time we stopped talking of the Slovenian region which is awfully underdeveloped," said Feri Göncz from RRA Mura.

According to last known data in Pomurje region there are 258 companies of joint, or foreign ownership, employing 5,640 people. These numbers will most likely grow soon.