With the economic packages of support from the Government of Serbia, small and medium enterprises not only managed to overcome the crisis to the greatest extent, but also increased employment, it was said today on the first day of the 12th International CRS Forum.
Assistant Minister of Economy for Small and Medium Enterprises Katarina Obradović said at the Forum that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the past two years have been very challenging for business, and that the goal of the company was to survive.
As she said, small and medium enterprises showed responsibility and managed to maintain the capacity of the domestic economy, and in addition, they increased the number of workers.
Obradovic stated that it is not easy for these companies to get involved in projects and invest in the envirnement, green agenda and sustainable business.
“Small and medium enterprises are important, and it is important to get involved in socially responsible business. They mostly contribute to the creation of GDP, employment and local economic development,” she said.
The Ministry of Economy, as she said, recognized that and provided financial and other support to a large number of companies through various programs.
The director of the mission of the American Agency for International Development in Serbia (USAID), Susan Fritz, assessed that Serbia’s move to 48th place in the list of the World Benefit Index for 2021 is impressive and added that, only three years ago, our country took 129th place.
Fritz said that from the legal framework for donations that has existed in the United States for more than a century, Serbia can learn a lot and progress faster than the United States did.
She used the opportunity to remind that USAID is marking two decades of work in Serbia this year, and during that time, she points out, the organization has directed nearly 900 million dollars to accelerate economic and democratic development.
The President of the Forum for Responsible Business, which with the support of USAID organizes the CRS Forum – Dejan Turk, said that the path to sustainability is full of challenges that everyone in the business world is facing.
Turk pointed out that the Manual for Non-Financial Reporting will be presented on the first day of the conference, which will inform all interested parties about this recent, he says, legal obligation.
The guide, he adds, will help large companies understand why it is important to report on social, environmental and management issues.
According to him, an important topic of the Forum will be the campaign on food donations to the most endangered, which was recently conducted by the Coalition for Charity under the slogan “Let’s save food, let’s save humanity”.
The CRS forum, which is being held in a hybrid format until November 26 due to epidemiological risks, can be followed online, on YouTube and on the social networks of the Forum for Responsible Business, RTV reports.
