The new director of the German-Serbian Chamber of Commerce (AHK), Frank Aleter, sees Serbia as a desirable destination for German investors because it offers attractive financing programs, good infrastructure, and is close to the European Union, which are all good arguments for attracting direct investments.
“Serbia has developed into an interesting country for German investors in recent years. They give an important impetus to economic growth and employment in Serbia. Attractive financing programs, good infrastructure and, of course, proximity to the European Union offer good arguments for direct investment,” Aleter said in an interview for Deutsche Welle (DW).
According to him, investors around the world need legal security and a good base when it comes to workers and experts, and the Government of Serbia, he emphasizes, has dealt with both areas and has made significant progress, especially in recent years.
“We look very positively at how the Government of Serbia reacted and supported the economy and companies during the corona crisis. When it comes to the area of activity of our chamber, I can say that we are cooperating very well with the Serbian government,” Aleter points out.
He points out that history has shown that Serbia, due to its geographical position, is a strategically important location, which, he says, is still valid today, so that it is about various interests of investors that Serbia can satisfy.
“Serbia is in a dynamic region that relies on economic growth. That dynamic is contagious and we want to make it even better known in Germany,” added the director of the AHK, who was elected to the post on February 1st this year.
When asked about the development of German-Serbian trade relations, Aleter noted that data for 2020 are not yet available, and that in 2019 the volume of trade amounted to 5.2 billion euros, and given the projected positive GDP growth this year, he expects further growth German imports and Serbian exports in 2021.
“We assume that Germany will remain the most important trade partner of Serbia, for import and export,” he added, listing specifically what Germany imports the most from Serbia and in what percentage, and what it exports the most.
Aleter believes that there are opportunities to increase cooperation in the field of ecology.
“There is room for cooperation between the two countries. With the so-called Green Deal, the EU wants to become climate neutral by 2050. It also has an impact on trading partners exporting to the EU. Due to the expected changes in the legal framework, opportunities for services and technologies will open in the areas of waste management, energy and water,” he states.
When asked what changes Serbia should make in order for things to function better, he reminded that in 2018, the government restructured the area of vocational education, which is based on a dual model.
“However, there is still a lot to be done – in particular, the acceptance of general vocational training must be increased, then there is a need for further offers of qualifications in companies or further offers for training of experienced employees in the vocational training sector,” says Aleter.
As an important fact, he points out that the latest investments go to technically demanding processes, and not so much to labor-intensive areas.
“Apart from medium-sized companies, there are also global companies that have strict business requirements according to established standards. Regular exchanges between the private and public sectors can certainly contribute to sustainable improvement in the areas of legal security and the environment,” Aleter said.
He also points out that more and more German companies are considering investing in Serbia within their strategies for shortening the supply chain, for which, according to him, there are certainly two reasons.
“On the one hand, Serbia is positioned as a supplier market for Germany within the so-called Western Balkans procurement initiative. On the other hand, we discover that German companies base their purchasing strategy on different pillars. Proximity to the EU and good quality structure of Serbian products play a big role. We should continue to promote these positive aspects in Germany in order to take advantage of this realignment in the field of purchasing.”
Aleter points out the indisputable effect that the pandemic had in the field of digitalization, and emphasizes that Serbia has a large number of IT and software developers working on innovative solutions, from which German and Serbian companies can benefit.
When asked how the current working conditions from home and the existing digital infrastructure in Serbia and German companies could use and at the same time slow down the brain drain from our country, he answered that one of the approaches could be Business process outsourcing – transferring the entire business segment to another company or land.
“However, so far we have not noticed that approach with foreign companies in Serbia, but more direct investments in the production sector. In the case of positive economic development, it will play a role in the future,” he said.
Alter also sees great potential for developing bilateral cooperation in the field of tourism.
“Serbia is still unknown to German tourists. There is great potential there, because it is possible that, some time after the pandemic, travel to distant countries will not be so much in the focus of German tourists. Serbia has much to offer in terms of culture, cuisine and landscape. The Chamber of Commerce would be happy to set up a development platform there.”
He believes that there is room on the German market for the placement of organic products from Serbia, because, as he says, the demand for organic products in Germany has increased exponentially in recent years.
“Local sources have not been able to meet demand for a long time. In that regard, Serbia could set itself up as a partner for organic products due to good agricultural land and thus attract investors,” Aleter said.
Asked to comment on the mini-Schengen project, he said that “this question is too complex to be answered briefly and is more in the public domain”, adding that “free movement of goods, services and people, of course, contributes to further exchange between individual countries”.
Aleter emphasizes that German companies are sustainably engaged in Serbia and focused on the long-term future.
“Our cooperation has existed for at least 20 years, which clearly shows that we came to Serbia to stay there. Germany is in the first place among Serbian bilateral partners and the engagement of German investors significantly contributes to the economic sustainability of Serbia,” he concluded.
In the end, Aleter said that the German-Serbian Chamber of Commerce will intensify the activities of informing German companies about the market opportunities in our country, in order to place Serbia in Germany as an attractive location for investment, RTV reports.
