The “Open Balkans” initiative is our process and something that is decisive for the survival of the economy and jobs in Serbia, said the President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce Marko Cadez and announced that Serbia, Albania and Northern Macedonia can count on a single work permit and a single information system for its citizens.
“President Vucic already had meetings with Edi Rama on the sidelines of regional cooperation in Glasgow, in order to do as much as possible now in Belgrade. Yesterday and today, apart from the ‘Open Balkans’, there is also a visit by the Prime Minister of Montenegro. Both countries are committed to regional co-operation and the regional economic space,” Cadez said.
He added that we live in a time when we have to realize that we no longer have many options.
“We have problems with the labor force. The labor market is becoming really problematic. We have to find space, to expand jobs, to make new jobs, we have to have space where we will realize those jobs and people with whom we will realize those jobs,” stated Cadez.
He emphasized that the idea of the President of Serbia is to make cooperation and treat each other as if we were living one economy.
“We have transport that is becoming more expensive. What has already been done within the ‘Open Balkans’ has been shortened since the initiative began until today, between these three countries, the route of trucks, goods, which is starting to leave Albania and reach Serbia, for one whole day. It really saved companies money,” said Marko Cadez.
Cadez pointed out that from next year, a single work permit and a single information system for the citizens of the “Open Balkans” can be counted on.
“A road map with very specific tasks is being adopted, what to do so that no truck stops at the border anymore, and that is what enables us to grow, enables our economy to grow,” Cadez emphasized.
He stated that the political will can be seen in all three countries and that a lot of concrete things have been done, and he added that he expects good news today.
“It is not always so pronounced in all countries that one government understands why this is important and says ‘we want to hear what the proposals of the economy are.’ Usually politicians want to express some of their views. They are not always compatible with what the economy wants, different examples in our region where we think that by abolishing all possible taxes, raising salaries on an artificial basis, so that politicians decide, they do not lead to good things,” Cadez explained to RTS.
He said that with the “Open Balkans” initiative, the region has a very good basis for new investments, since foreign investors do not look at only one country, but look at a region that either has or does not have good conditions.
There will be 22 companies at the meeting
Cadez stated that 22 companies from Serbia, Albania and Northern Macedonia dealing with different areas will be present at today’s meeting.
“From agricultural production, metal industry, electronics, informatics, construction industry. They themselves say, we need it. Those companies we are talking to today employ 50,000 people. They are creating 50,000 jobs in the region currently and are interested in going further. They are realized that this initiative really makes sense,” Cadez pointed out.
He emphasized that the initiative survives despite the fact that Zoran Zaev is not there and that Northern Macedonia will be represented by the Deputy Prime Minister.
“What is good about the initiative is that the administrations participate fully. I had the opportunity to see how they coordinate and we are part of that coordination mechanism for harmonizing all agreements – from work permits to the flow of goods and you really see how much public administration in all countries, we try to do as much as possible and make as many agreements as possible,” Cadez pointed out.
Talks were held in Budapest with representatives of the Hungarian authorities and the economy of the Visegrad Group members. Cadez said that the “Open Balkans” initiative is important because of the economic cooperation with the member states of the European Union.
“Together with Brussels and together with the member states, first of all with the EU countries with which we are in the environment, we can lead to the fact that our companies do not cost much what they export to the EU, that they do not cost more than a company in Slovakia or Hungary,” Cadez said.
Speaking about the “World Logistics Passport” initiative, which Serbia joined, Cadez stated that Serbia is the only European country that joined that initiative, thus reducing transport costs and making the domestic economy more competitive.
He added that in addition to Serbia, the countries of Latin America and North Africa are also in that initiative, Sputnik News reports.
