I want to say how impressed I am with so many brave and proud workers around the world. Not just the doctors and nurses who are risking their lives, but the garbage collectors, the sales people in shops, the delivery drivers. We owe these people so much. We need to change the reward system – these people are the backbone of our economies and they deserve more return for their importance
In order to continue reporting on news and happenings in Serbia and all around the world, we bring you the interviews of our former collaborators and partners, as well as of our friends, who live abroad. That end we, spoke with Daniel Berg, former EBRD Director for Serbia, who after his retirement returned to the U.S. For D&C website, he spoke about his consulting business, how much he is missing Serbia and his friends here in Belgrade, and will happen with the world economy.
How do you organize business activity in the USA and how do you organize your daily activities?
As some of you know, I retired from EBRD in mid-2018 and then departed Belgrade after three wonderful years in November. Since then, I have been lucky to have numerous consulting opportunities which brought me to Belgrade and elsewhere in the Balkans. My heart and my mind have remained strongly connected to Belgrade and my Serbian friends. I am thinking of you this week in particular on the 20th anniversary of the NATO bombing, and earthquake in neighboring Croatia, not to mention the Coronavirus lockdown.
This damn virus is certainly putting a damper on my consulting opportunities, but I continue to liase daily with business colleagues and friends in Serbia in order to keep important prospective projects moving. Business for now is 100% from the home office which I set up in Pennsylvania but I hope to see you again before too long.
I am supposed to be partly retired so my daily activities are not quite what they would be if I were still running a large office like EBRD Serbia. For 15 years I had been responsible for my staff.
Having thought further, I need give credit to and promote some of the specific consulting work I have been doing the past year. Thanks to the United Nations team in Serbia, I become involved in supporting Serbia’s Sustainable Development Goals objectives. Despite all the other worries, we need to ensure work to meet all 17 of the SDGs. However, most recently, I have been working with E3International (with offices in Belgrade and Washington DC) to address reforms of the District Heating and energy system in Serbia. E3Iinternational has been in Serbia for at least a dozen years. This year, we helped upgrade 3 District Heating Systems (Pančevo, Niš and Čačak) working for USAID and their strong energy reform team. Now, we are in discussions with the Serbian government, Vojvodina Province, district heating companies, EPS as well as a number of key donors (US, EU, UN, Sweden, France, Austria) to consider further the conversion of heat and energy to renewable sources. A particular innovative initiative will be to invest in fast growing wood plantations on abandoned agricultural land and to use this resource for energy sources. The benefits go well beyond energy and energy security and include land reclamation and job creation. I look forward to working with many of you on this innovative initiative, which can help Serbia move toward nearly all its SDGs.
How are you spending private time during the pandemic?
Since I live in the countryside, I do have the advantage of fresh air and space. The weather has been cold but not terrible. Therefore, I have been taking long hikes in the woods.
I also have been studying Spanish with Duolingo. I can spend a lot of time but need to get some more hands-on practice.
I’ve also been in touch with my daughters and my mom and my dad (who both live alone) via social media. My mom is a fiend on words with friends. In effect it is just keeping them busy during boring days.
What will you do first after the state of emergency is over?
Honestly, I hope to visit Belgrade as soon as I can after this crisis. It is so sad to know that partners are not now able to help and support each other. I hope that we can return quickly to our friends and colleagues.
Which measures Government should implement?
This is the difficult question. The main advice is to listen to experts and not put politics ahead of science. I have been screaming about this for a long time re the climate crisis. But others have been worrying about potential pandemics. We are not ready because we put short term gains ahead of long-term planning. This is a lesson to each of us on a personal level and on a national level.
Second, we need to cooperate better both within our own countries and between countries. I have been disappointed by the recent America First trends. We need to create truly functioning international response structures. This is not easy and many will be skeptical. But, if we continue the trend to bunkering in smaller tribal units, I fear we will end in crisis.
Third, we have to stop denigrating the role of good government and good governance. This is an American phenomenon but one seen around the world; it is particularly virulent in the Balkans. If people don’t believe in their governments, then collective systems can collapse – this includes health, disaster recovery, transportation, etc. etc.
As it relates to reviving the economy…we are clearly in for a very difficult period and many companies will not survive this recession/depression. Companies cannot plan for the future until there is some light on the horizon – control over the virus. Governments are printing money like crazy…that money will be used for bare essentials – food, energy, housing, medicines – and costs will go up in these areas as we have to do more to make their delivery safe and secure. Luxuries will have to wait. The crisis is accelerating the trend toward on-line businesses – this will continue.
I assume the richer countries will come through this ok. Unfortunately, we can expect more chaotic responses in less developed countries. We have to keep an eye out for any major crisis breaking out around the world.
Finally, I want to say how impressed I am with so many brave and proud workers around the world. Not just the doctors and nurses who are risking their lives, but the garbage collectors, the sales people in shops, the delivery drivers. We owe these people so much. We need to change the reward system – these people are the back bone of our economies and they deserve more return for their importance. My thoughts are with them and I hope they stay healthy and on the job.