In order to survive in the world of ever-increasing competition, our main priority is to achieve greater added value of the products, and this is only possible through education, investing in digitization of business processes and development of innovative solutions, i.e. the implementation of Industry 4.0
Minister-Counselor at the Embassy of Slovenia in Serbia, Dejan Vladić, talks about the cooperation between Serbia and Slovenia, the forth-coming joint session of the two governments, as well as the potential for cooperation in the IT industry.
In your previous interview, you said the growing economic relations between the two countries always occupied a special place on the agenda of the meeting of our two government. What do you expect to happen in this regard in 2020?
– In February this year, on the brink of the visit of Slovenian President Borut Pahor to Serbia, we had a huge business forum in Belgrade where almost 1000 company representatives and people from different institutions met and exchanged their ideas on future cooperation. On 17th December Serbian government will host a joint meeting of Slovenian and Serbian governments. On their agenda they are supposed to have also new projects to boost economic cooperation. Our two countries already have excellent cooperation in various segments, but our goal every year is to reach new forms of cooperation and resolve ongoing issues. Thus, we would like to focus on IT sector, more precisely on IT solutions for agriculture, introducing e-business, e-billing and digitization of small and medium-sized enterprises on which both Slovenia and Serbia are basing their economic growth. SMEs have to implement changes in their business, because over the next ten-year period, 90% percent of the global economy’s revenue will be generated by small and medium-sized enterprises.At the joint meeting our two governments will also discuss options for how to jointly approach the huge African market, where during the time of the former Yugoslavia, we were implementing large-scale business projects. The connection still exists event today, and if we work together, we can find a place for our small business systems in African market again. Agriculture and rural development are still very important economic branches and they still have great potential in Serbia. In terms of Serbian harmonization of its legislation with the EU’s, there are opportunities for Slovenia transferring its know-how and digital solutions which must be compatible with EU regulations. Slovenia did an excellent job in rural development also with great support from EU funds, and we want to help Serbia by bringing in several experts who will work with institutions, including local ones, on transferring solutions and the knowhow.
What is Slovenia’s and Serbia’s place in Industry 4.0?
– Industry 4.0 is not considered a novelty in the world anymore. The Japanese are already working on the Society 5.0 concept, which addresses all the changes introduced by artificial intelligence and higher 5G data transfer speed. For years, the Slovenian government has been offering and financially supporting investments in the implementation of innovative technologies and in general, digitization of businesses. In order to survive in the world of ever-increasing competition, our main priority to achieve greater added value of the production, and this is only possible through education, invest-ing in digitization of business processes and development of innovative solutions, i.e. the implementation of Industry 4.0. Bearing in mind substantial foreign investments in the last decade and a drastic reduction in unemployment, Serbia has made a major step forward, and with natural pressures regarding wage growth and achieving greater competitiveness in foreign markets, on which our small economies strongly depend, the country is now entering a phase of modernization of work processes and major investments in digitization of economic systems and higher education, in order to generate more revenue and payout even higher wages, as welll as attract new long-term investors.
Apart from digitization, in which segments can the two countries better co-operate? What do figures say?
– The figures indicate that there is great potential for cooperation also in tourism, ecology, especially environmental pro-jects, the creative industry, as well as in energy, especially the development of renewable energy sources, and transport & logistics, where Slovenian Post Office is becoming a significant logistics provider in the region. We will know, by the year-end, whether there will be a consolidation in the banking sector, which will further boost the role and cooperation of the Slovenian NLB in Serbia. Better interconnectedness of the countries in the region and concretization of significant ideas, such as the so-called “Mini Schengen“, will also significantly strengthen our cooperation in traditional areas of the economy such as agriculture and manufacturing. Investment exchange is also progressing well, as seen from the ideas about a greater integration in the region.
The greater integration of the region’s small economies is very important in the race for the global market.1,600 Slovenian companies operate in Serbia. Are they satisfied with the business environment in Serbia?
– Slovenian companies are satisfied with the business environment, both in Serbia and wherever they operate in the world. Internationalized companies had to do their homework beforehand, adapt their business to the environment and culture of the country in which they launched or developed their business. Serbia is the second most popular destination for Slovenian foreign investments, so there is no doubt that Slovenian companies are satisfied. Slovenia has invested nearly 1 billion euro in Serbia so far. Serbia is traditionally a significant market for Slovenian companies. Adjust-ing business processes becomes a little easier when there are no cultural and linguistic barriers, and considering that we have traditional business ties from the time of Yugoslavia, which may have given Slovenia a slight advantage over other countries.