The state is currently working on attracting more than 50 new investments in the Serbian economy, the realization of which should start in 2020, which, according to the president of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Marko Cadez, will be a year of growth and more foreign direct investment.
“We expect foreign direct investment to grow. Negotiations are currently underway and about fifty investment projects are being negotiated. These are projects that will be implemented in 2020, and hopefully more”, the SCC president tells Tanjug.
The expectations of the Serbian economy in the next year, despite the uncertainty in the world, can be summed up in one word – “growth”, said Cadez.
Businessmen hope to increase production, exports, investments, public and private, both foreign and domestic, through numerous changes to the law, and are ready for a faster digital transformation of businesses.
As for the development of the domestic economy, Cadez points to the importance of the announced program “Serbia 2025”, “heavy 14 billion euros” in the next five years, the further development of dual education and the continuation of digitalization, changes and adoption of regulations aimed at improving the business environment.
Positive expectations are not based “on desires” but, as explained by the SCC, on surveys of businessmen’s attitudes conducted by the Chamber with the Republic Bureau of Statistics.
However, in order to meet the expectations of businessmen, in 2020 it is necessary to work on further fiscal burdening of the economy, reduction of para-fiscal levies, introduction of export subsidies system, removal of barriers to free movement of people, goods, services and capital in the region, digitization, provision of adequate personnel.
The development of dual education, Cadez notes, remains a priority.
20 to 30 percent more students are expected in the next school year (2020/2021) and an increase in the number of companies involved in dual education, as well as at least six new educational profiles introduced, Cadez says.
He reminds that about 1,400 students have completed education in Serbia by the dual model, and by 2020 another 1,500 students will graduate. There is no investor coming to Serbia without his first question being “how did you solve that problem and do you have a dual education system?”
“And that sets Serbia apart from other countries in the region”, said Cadez.
There are many expectations of businessmen in 2020 regarding promotion through business facilitation. They are looking for further reduction or abolition of customs duties on imports of certain raw materials and semi-finished products needed by the manufacturing industry, solving problems at border crossings, amendments to foreign exchange laws that will simplify administrative procedures in foreign payment operations.
“The SCC had 109 legislative initiatives in 2019, and we are preparing new ones to abolish tariffs on semi-finished products and raw materials to reduce imput prices and allow companies to be competitive.”
The economy also expects to adopt, among other things, the new Law on Protection of Competition, the Law on Packaging and Packaging Waste, the Law on Road Traffic Safety and Mandatory Traffic Insurance, amending the set of laws in the field of railway traffic, adopting the Law on Crafts, etc.
In the coming year, SCC will offer new digitized services to businesses, such as a qualified electronic certificate on a card in the Cloud, as well as a qualified electronic seal, a qualified time stamp and more.
