The reforms implemented so far have already opened the door to investors from, above all, European countries, but also from other parts of the world.
According to the Business Registers Agency, there are 18,000 foreign-owned companies operating in Serbia, employing about 350,000 workers. In the past decade, they have directly invested 24.5 billion euros in Serbia, RTS writes.
According to a survey conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce among members for eight years, companies are satisfied with macroeconomic stability in Serbia, reduced budget deficits, reduced administration, especially in the area of issuing building permits, and e-government reform.
The objections are at the expense of the efficiency of the judiciary, the rule of law, the fight against corruption, and the transparency of tax policy.
They started as the largest American greenfield investment, and now they are in the jubilee year.
“We have produced 18 billion cans for drinks and employed 400 people. In addition, Belgrade has become an operational center for a whole range of global business services. We export cans from our factory in Belgrade to over 20 markets,” said Branislav Savic, director of the Bol Packaging factory”.
Aleksandar Jakovljevic director of the Philip Morris factory, says that the company has grown into one large regional production center from where the products are exported to more than 50 countries around the world.
“Belgrade also has a center for Southeast Europe, from where we coordinate the work of a large number of markets,” Jakovljevic notes.
There are no indications that foreign investors will leave Serbia
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, companies are recording lower profits, reduced ambitions in terms of business expansion, new investments and employment, and certainly the final business result will be worse.
When asked if there are any hints that some companies are planning to leave the Serbian market, the chairman of the board of the German-Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Udo Eichlinger, says that there are currently no hints about that.
“On the contrary, we have more companies knocking on doors and checking business opportunities in Serbia,” adds Eichlinger.
It is important for the German Chamber of Commerce that everything agreed, sometimes true with a delay, is still realized, which is why the Government of Serbia is a trusted partner. Perhaps that is why criticism can be heard that foreign companies are privileged.
“I don’t think anyone comes and says ‘I’m creating hundreds of jobs and I want different treatment from the government. I seriously doubt that,” says Eichlinger.
The President of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia, Marko Cadez, says that PKS is very clear in communication with foreign investors.
“So, they don’t come here for some abstract reasons, but because they have a certain vision of how they can do a good job,” Cadez believes.
The National Bank of Serbia estimates that direct foreign investments will reach 2.3 billion euros this year, due to a pandemic less than last year, when they amounted to a record 3.8 billion euros, B92 reports.
