Keepin touch

Whether you have a question, comment, suggestion or any problem in the purview of the government, send us your message and we will try to respond as soon as possible. If your problem is not in our purview, we will forward your message to the relevant institution.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Government strives to improve investment climate

Belgrade, 10 September 2008

Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said today that with the aim of improving the investment climate, the government will strive towards EU integration, improve economic cooperation with Russia, build better infrastructure and simplify legal regulations.

Mirko Cvetkovic

Author: Tanjug

Speaking at the presentation of the 2008 “White Book”, held at the Sava Centre, presented by the Foreign Investors’ Council, Cvetkovic said that the Serbian government should be assessed according to their results, not promises and noted that first results are evident after only two months.

He recalled that Serbian parliament yesterday ratified the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU and said he expects the transitional trade agreement with the EU to be unfrozen next week.

Serbian parliament also ratified the energy agreement with Russia which will help increase investments in this sector to hundreds of millions of Euro per year and not only in the Serbian oil industry Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS), but in the construction of the gas pipe line and accompanying facilities, said the Prime Minister.

He confirmed that talks with Italy’s Fiat are to be concluded, adding that Fiat’s investment will be considerable. Cvetkovic reiterated that building infrastructure is the government’s priority considering that poor infrastructure is an obstacle to attracting foreign investment.

This government must conclude the construction of Corridor 10 and the rail road on that corridor, he added.

Cvetkovic noted that at yesterday’s government meeting, a plan to axe unnecessary procedures and regulations was presented and added that thousands of regulations are currently in force in Serbia, some of which are very obsolete and hamper investments in the country.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic stressed that in the first half of 2008 $2.1 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) was invested in Serbia, and this year the amount should reach $4 billion.

Dinkic said that Serbia’s goal is to have FDI exceed $5 billion in the next few years and specified that GDP per capita this year stands at around $7,000, whereas in 2002, when the “White Book” was first presented, it amounted to mere $2,500 per capita.

Mladjan Dinkic

Author: Tanjug

He said that the government will develop special incentive measures for greenfield investments in the car industry, telecommunications and electronics, in which the state will also invest a great deal.

The idea is to attract as much FDI intended for export as possible, as well as to increase the employment rate, explained Dinkic and announced a regulatory guillotine which will slash red tape.

He added that by 2010 archaic and inefficient laws will be eliminated.

President of the Foreign Investors’ Council Stein-Erik Vellan said that the council is a partner to the Serbian government that wishes to point out the difficulties in business and solve them with joint forces, while its second, but not less important role is to share its experiences with potential foreign investors.

“White Book” editor Mihajlo Crnobrnja stressed that the business environment in Serbia has improved, although not as fast as was expected.

He noted that this year’s “White Book” contains 102 recommendations which mostly refer to tax policy, human resources, amendments to the Law on labour and social responsibilities.

President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce Milos Bugarin said that the aim is to have equally favourable investment conditions for both domestic and foreign investors.

He stressed that recommendations from the “White Book” can become reality in Serbia and said he expects the business climate in Serbia to become favourable for investors.

Also present at the gathering were Minister of Trade and services Slobodan Milosavljevic, Minister of Telecommunication and Information Society Jasna Matic, Minister of Environmental Protection and Spatial Planning Oliver Dulic, Governor of the National Bank of Serbia Radovan Jelasic and many representatives of domestic and foreign companies in Serbia.