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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

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“Invest in Serbia 2010” awards presented

31 March 2010

Belgrade, 31 March 2010 –Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic presented the first award in the competition for promotion of investments “Invest in Serbia 2010” in Vrsac today, at which 26 municipalities took part.

In addition to the plaque, the municipality that won the first prize was also awarded with a visit to the investment fair in Munich, which will be organised by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The National Alliance for Local Economic Development will give a laptop to the municipality, and the Serbian Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SIEPA) will finance the municipality’s promotion in economic magazines. The second-ranked municipality is Leskovac, while the third-ranked is Uzice. The awards were presented by Minister of Environmental Protection Oliver Dulic and Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic. Both municipalities got study trips to Osborne in Alabama, the US, as well as a visit to the investment fair in Munich.

Dinkic said that political stability, an efficient state structure and well-built infrastructure are preconditions for the arrival of foreign investors. It is also necessary to simplify the red tape which slows down business operations.

To this end, the Serbian government adopted 230 recommendations in January, but so far only 23 have been implemented in practice.

This is why the Ministry of Economy decided to inform the government as of next month about who has implemented the recommendations and who has not.

The foreign investors who come to Serbia are mostly interested in the municipalities along Corridor 10, Dinkic said and added that the local self-governments must take part in building local infrastructure and regional roads. Djelic said that municipalities should show greater initiative and that only in this way can they apply for EU funds. He explained that 40% of these funds are intended for projects of local self-governments. Dulic said that the level of efficiency of a municipality is measured by the speed at which it issues building licences.

He said that there are municipalities that are still very slow in doing this and this is why investors who have a location permit will be allowed to start the construction of facilities as of next week, even though they do not have building licences.

US Ambassador to Serbia Mary Warlick said that Serbia can become an investment destination in Europe, but first it has to fulfil two conditions – to complete reforms that favour those who want to do business in Serbia and to make it clear to investors why they should invest in Serbia. This competition, which was organised in Serbia by USAID for the third time, lasted from 1 to 31 March.