National Assembly Deputy Speaker and Head of the Economic Caucus Prof. Dr Vladimir Marinkovic, thanked the attending and opened the gathering stressing that last year was very important for Serbia because it passed laws on investment, capital and construction which can contribute to the improvement of trade between the Nordic countries and Serbia, and adding that in the years to come Serbia would strive to turn toward export and become the innovative centre in the region and work actively on improving the business environment in the country.

“Besides the legislative framework and activity, what we consider very important is to have an abundance of investments with an overflow effect, investments that will bring new knowledge, new management models and new technologies and thus ensure that our educated young people get jobs in the best companies”, said Marinkovic.

Minister of Economy Zeljko Sertic stressed that the biggest challenge to the adopted legislation lies in its implementation and thanked the Economic Caucus for facilitating it and for its efforts on boosting Serbia’s economy. Sertic added that the Law on Investment adopted in late 2015 was declared by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund as closest to the global best practice, and that Serbia has good reason to be proud and a lot to offer to big global companies. Minister of Finance Dusan Vujovic commended Serbia for managing to come out of recession in the midst of fiscal consolidation and achieve economic growth, which was, among other things, the result of investing into the economy.

Sigve Brekke, President and CEO of the Telenor Group, second biggest foreign investment in Serbia, said that international investors hope that the Serbian government and policy will ensure better business condition concerning the three goals of predictability of regulation, rule of law and equal rights for all who wish to invest into Serbia. Brekke added that Telenor Serbia, though a small part of the Telenor Group, is at the forefront of innovation within the company.

Ambassador of Norway in the Republic of Serbia H.E Arne Sannes Bjornstad said that the Nordic countries and Serbia are friendly countries and as such help one another, trade and invest into one another, and today’s dialogue and exchange of experiences and talks of the future contribute to the development of investment prospects. He stressed that he sees Serbia as a country with more opportunities than challenges.

Jasmina Vignjevic, President of the Board of Nordic Business Alliance in Serbia, spoke about the Serbian Chamber of Commerce 2014 report stating that Serbia’s foreign trade with the Nordic countries exceeded 700 million USD, which is 2% of Serbia’s overall foreign trade volume. Serbia’s export to said region amounted to 152 million USD, which is 1% of Serbia’s overall export that year. Vignjevic added that the Nordic Business Alliance is the place where potential investors inquire about the business climate in the Republic of Serbia and about other investment prerequisites.

MPs, entrepreneurs, members of the Economic Caucus and business associations took part in the ensuing debate.