Serbia has been given the opportunity to cooperate with one of the most powerful investment banks in the world, Goldman Sachs, and will use it, said today the Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabic, who also talked with the President of that company, David Solomon, in New York.
“When Goldman Sachs is developing something like Goldman and Sachs in your country, then it is a completely different level of respect and credibility of your country,” Brnabic said, explaining that it is not the same as when Goldman Sachs would look for investors for Serbia.
Brnabic told reporters after the end of her working visit to the United States, which resulted in the announcement of the arrival of three or four investors – an investment fund in Serbia and the opening of 120 new jobs, that it was a curiosity that President of Goldman Sachs was present at the meeting because he is harder to meet than up to 90 percent of the presidents of all countries in the world,” which, as she stated, is a great indicator of how much is known about Serbia and what kind of country it is.
“They showed great respect for Serbia, they appeared in the strongest team,” said the Prime Minister, adding that she did not know that many countries had succeeded.
“We tried to bring Goldman Sachs to Serbia, it seems that we have succeeded for now, on a small scale, they do not come just like that, they are not present in the region, we managed to agree to have a small joint project. We talked like that, and when you open the door and show yourself, it is a different perspective,” said the Prime Minister.
Brnabic said that she could not give details of the conversation about the project that was discussed at the meeting now.
“We are talking about the project, we were given a chance to get the task solved, and then they think about a bigger presence in Serbia, which is more than I could have expected,” said the Prime Minister, who stated that the meeting was at a completely different level than in 2014. As she explained, not to mediate in buying something or to buy and then sell something, but to be present like Goldman Sachs and to develop a segment of their business in Serbia.
She added that the meeting discussed everything that was happening in Serbia, what President Vucic did as Prime Minister in the field of fiscal consolidation, how much we have changed, how we have transformed into a knowledge-based economy, what we offer.
It was an excellent, difficult meeting, said Brnabic and reminded that Goldman and Sachs are richer than two thirds of the countries in the world and that they themselves have 12,000 people working on the development of various segments, and Serbia a little less than 40,000.
Asked whether there was talk of political relations between the two countries, Brnabic said that there was no talk of political issues.
“They know everything about Serbia, how much the country has changed, how serious and credible we are, they appreciate all that, and otherwise we would not have received a meeting, especially not one at which President Solomon appeared,” the Prime Minister noted.
According to her, Serbia will continue to fight to hand over cooperation with Goldman Sachs to an even higher level.
“We will fight, I can’t say that we will succeed, it is a serious fight, and for the pride of Serbia, it is that we managed to have meetings with the president of Goldman Sachs,” said Brnabic.
She added that Goldman Sachs knows everything about Serbia, and how brave we were to achieve a stable fiscal monetary system, to be a record holder in attracting foreign direct investments three times, according to the Financial Times, to position ourselves as a country that as a leader in E law, innovation, investment in science, research and development.
As a reminder, the delegation of Goldman and Sachs was in Serbia in 2014. Brnabic said that the talks were completely different now and then when it came to the Bor mine and emphasized that Goldman and Sachs do not hold mines, that they can bring a big investor which is good, but that is something completely different when in your country and develops something of its own.
The Prime Minister also expressed satisfaction with the results of the conversations she had with entrepreneurs in the field of IT gathered in the organization Serbian Enterprises, which helped her in organizing numerous meetings in the United States.
“Just as I expect three or four new investments from the working meetings held on Monday, they don’t have to be big but they are new e-people will invest their money and funds in our companies and our minds, after this I know of at least 120 new jobs that will open it in the next year,” she said, adding that 120 jobs would “pay off” all the work.
“And we continue to work, and from here I received confirmation from the most important centers of the world that everything we do and plan the right path,” said Brnabic, who introduced the participants to what Serbia has done from 2014 until today.
“Everyone who has already invested said that when we come to Serbia today and see what is happening in relation to what we saw six years ago, it is an incredible step forward, it is a different country and good luck to you,” Brnabic said.
She mentioned that they said that now, knowing what Serbia plans to do in the next two years, they will work on increasing the team they employ, because they need such a country, credible that invests in education, science and investment incentives.
Gordana Vunjak Novakovic, a professor at Columbia University, who received the prestigious European Award for Best Inventor in mid-June, also took part in the meeting with Serbian Entrepreneurs, RTV reports.
