Thursday, 5 October 2017

19th Sitting of the Committee on the Economy, Regional Development, Trade, Tourism and Energy

At the sitting held on 5 October, the members of the Committee on the Economy, Regional Development, Trade, Tourism and Energy reviewed the Commission for Protection of Competition 2016 Activity Report and the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Activity Report for the period 1 April – 30 June 2017.


The President of the Commission for Protection of Competition Dr Miloje Obradovic informed the attending that 2016 was a jubilee year for the Commission for Protection of Competition and that in the reporting period the Commission had realized a revenue surplus. As he said the Commission has, in line with its authority, done its protective duty with efficiency performing activities such as investigations and issuance of opinions on the implementation of the Law on Protection of Competition. The Report also contains a detailed analysis of the business transactions of both the public and private sector. Obradovic added that in the reporting period the Commission had continued its activities concerning Serbia’s EU accession process and that the European Commission had no objections to Negotiation Chapter 8. Obradovic stressed that the Commission for Protection of Competition is not funded by the state budget and had in 2016 realized a revenue surplus, 95 million of which was paid into the budget of the Republic of Serbia, as well as more than 82 million RSD from the reserves.

After the presentation of the Commission for Protection of Competition 2016 Activity Report the Committee Chairperson moved to accept the Commission for Protection of Competition 2016 Activity Report and publish it in the “Official Gazette” which the Committee accepted by majority vote.

Vesna Kovac, State Secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, went on to present the results of the Ministry’s activity. She said that in the reporting period the Ministry had set up a Working Group for the drafting of a new Trade Law, as well as a Working Group for the drafting of the Commodity Exchange Law. The Customer Protection Sector had continued its work on the protection of the customers’ collective interests. Kovac said that the Sector had received more than 4400 complaints, most of which concerning shoes and mobile phones.

Ministry State Secretary Stevan Nikcevic said that speaking of foreign trade, there has been considerable legislative activity concerning the continued reporting on the national control lists of weaponry and military equipment, import and export, brokering services and similar. Among other things, the CEFTA Secretariat elected a Director in May, and organization with which Serbia has realized a 2.2 billion EUR exchange surplus in the first seven months of the year, which is 9.4% more than last year.

Maja Mandrapa Gasic, Assistant Minister for bilateral economic cooperation, said that organization and coordination of mixed intergovernmental trade and economic cooperation committees and commissions were the most important activities in said period, primarily with Belarus, Austria, Switzerland, and contacts were intensified with the Turkish Ministry of Economy concerning the revision of the existing free trade agreement.

Assistant Minister Renata Pindzo presented the activities of the Tourism Sector. She said that the reporting period was marked by significant results achieved within the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and in projects developing under the auspices of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative. Serbia’s co-chairmanship of the UN World Tourism Organization Executive Council for the remainder of 2017 is one important activity. Pindzo stressed that a Conference on Sustainable Development in the Danube Region was co-organized with the World Tourist Organization 29-30 June in Belgrade at which the participants passed the Belgrade Declaration which includes the development of joint tourism products. She added that so far 916 tourist service providers had applied for the voucher programme and with the additional funds the Government had ear-marked in May the number of users was boosted by 20,000 so that the total of applicants has now come up to 90,000. The numbers of tourists had also swelled in the reporting period which in turn resulted in a 16% increase in foreign currency income.

Following the presentation the Committee members accepted the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Activity Report for the period 1 April – 30 June 2017.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairperson Snezana B. Petrovic and attended by the following Committee members and deputy members: Dr Aleksandra Tomic, Stanislava Janosevic, Studenka Kovacevic, Aleksandar Stevanovic, Natasa Mihajlovic Vacic, Ivan Manojlovic, Zoran Bojanic, Milimir Vujadinovic and Snezana Paunovic.


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friday, 29 march
  • 9.00 - the National Assembly Speaker meets with the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, Speaker’s Cabinet)

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