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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

European integration key strategic goal of Serbia

Belgrade, 9 May 2007

Head of the Serbian government's EU Integration Office Tanja Miscevic said today that European integration is Serbia's key strategic goal and added that businessmen will be the first to feel the effects of every future step in getting closer to the EU and signing of the stabilisation and association agreement.

Author: Fonet

Speaking at a conference called "Entrepreneurship education and business incubation - development of economies based on knowledge as turning point towards European integration," held on the occasion of Europe Day, Miscevic said that progress is one of the key EU values and that today its aim is creation of societies based on knowledge and competitiveness, whose basic aim of sustainable growth.

Miscevic said that negotiations on stabilisation and association agreement are currently in hibernation and voiced hope that they will soon be continued.

Head of the European Commission delegation in Serbia Josep Lloveras said that implementation of the European Charter on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Entrepreneurship is an important element in Serbia's approximation to the EU.

Lloveras said that the process of development in the EU is largely based on trade and economic realities, which does not mean that political and moral dimensions of the EU should be forgotten since both are important for European integration.

Serbian Minister of Economy Predrag Bubalo said that there are several business incubators in Serbia that provide business space and service, owing to which 85% of small and medium-sized enterprises in the incubator go successfully through the first and the most difficult phase of doing business.

Bubalo said that incubators that exist in Nis, Knjazevac, Zrenjanin, Subotica and Kanjiza give results and are a valuable experience for those that are yet to be formed. The idea is to form another 13 or 14 incubators in Serbia, through the National Investment Plan.

Two years ago, there were nearly 900 incubators in the EU which created 30,000 direct jobs and another 10,000 indirect jobs with an expense of €4,500 per job, according to the Minister.

Minister of Education and Sport Slobodan Vuksanovic said that educational reform is of great importance for the development of the Serbian economy as well as for the country’s international cooperation.

According to Vuksanovic, teaching methods were reduced in size by 30% over the past two years whereas more attention was given to practical work and exercises.

Vuksanovic noted that reforms were conducted in 166 out of 523 secondary schools in Serbia which were equipped with laboratories and other equipment. He added that progress was also made in the Bologna process of reforming universities.