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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia needs twice as much foreign investment

Brussels, 7 May 2005

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus said in an interview to the Belgian-French weekly "Le Vif/L' Express" that the level of foreign investment in Serbia, which totals $900 million so far this year, is very low and needs to be doubled.

Miroljub Labus

Labus explained that foreign investors shun investing in Serbia because many issues are still unresolved and Belgrade authorities have great difficulties reforming the legal system inherited from the previous regime.

The regime of land ownership is one of the obstacles because it complicates the purchase of real estate, as well as the lingering problems of corruption and political instability, Labus added.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that organised crime has strong influence on courts and the media, while the civil society has been destroyed by war.

He stressed that 400,000 young university graduates have left the country and a very small number of them have returned. The country's national wealth has been reduced by 40 percent over the past 15 years, he added.

Labus said that it is of great importance to reform the economy, although in the short term that entails increased unemployment. He said that there is no other way and that all countries of central Europe did the same.

Speaking about Kosovo, he said that in the long-term, the solution will be found within the European framework, while in the short-term it is necessary to find a solution that will entail greater autonomy, but not independence.