Representatives of the Government of Serbia point out that Serbia takes a neutral position when it comes to choosing companies on the IT market and that it does not view the situation from a political angle. However, Serbia’s business with China has already entered the “radar” of American diplomats.
The American embassy states that “it is crucial for the economic and national security of Serbia to carefully monitor investment agreements that can be a space for technology transfer, espionage, theft of personal data of citizens or compromising critical infrastructure.”
According to a written response to Radio Free Europe (RFE), Serbia has cause for concern about private information online managed by the People’s Republic of China.
“Huawei is closely linked to the Communist Party of China, which, under Chinese law, can force Huawei to manipulate, interfere with or spy on information and communication systems outside China’s borders, in any country that uses its technology,” the embassy said in a statement.
It adds that the US diplomatic mission in Serbia hopes that the focus on network security opens opportunities for American IT companies, but that the main goal is to protect the security of digital infrastructure in America and encourage allies, including Serbia, to do the same.
US President Donald Trump blacklisted Huawei in May last year, banning US companies from using the equipment of this Chinese technology giant, with the explanation that it endangers national security. In addition, the U.S. Department of Commerce has put Huawei on a “list of entities” from which it is forbidden to order technology for U.S. firms without government approval.
According to the data of the Association for Electronic Communications Information Society of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (SCC), there are currently 670 IT companies with foreign capital operating in Serbia that are members of that association.
According to the data by this association, the largest number of companies is from the USA – 72. Switzerland (65), Germany (53), Italy (38) and the Netherlands (37) follow. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has four registered companies in Serbia, including Huawei.
When asked whether the current geopolitical situation between the US Government and the Chinese company Huawei is reflected in the IT market in Serbia, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce answered in the negative.
“SCC members have not contacted any SCC body with any problems in implementing projects with Huawei,” Marjan Stojanovic, secretary of the Association for Electronic Communications and Information Society of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, told RFE / RL.
According to Mihailo Jovanovic, director of the Government Office for Information Technology and Electronic Administration, Serbia is taking a neutral position.
“I don’t think it will affect whether Huawei will do some big commercial business in Serbia, because Huawei is already present in almost all telecommunications companies in Serbia,” Jovanovic told RFE / RL when asked how US sanctions on Chinese Huawei affect Serbian IT market.
According to him, Serbia does not view the situation from a political point of view and wants to show itself as a country open to all foreign investments.
In previous years, the Serbian government has signed memoranda of understanding with six foreign IT companies, including five US and Chinese Huawei.
According to Mihailo Jovanovic, in addition to the Chinese company, the memorandum was signed with the American companies Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, NVIDIA and Nutanix.
According to him, that was the first step towards cooperation within the state DATA center in Kragujevac, which should start working in mid-October. The DATA center should enable the safe storage of equipment and storage of data of different users.
“The state DATA center is designed to have the capacity to store equipment and data of the state administration and local self-government, but we have designed it so that it has enough capacity for potential commercial users. So, through these memorandum, we invite large global IT companies to consider placing their large global DATA centers as commercial users in Serbia,” says Jovanovic, Radio Slobodna Evropa reports.
