In the past two years, Diplomacy&Commerce magazine has given to its readers abundance of news from politics, business and culture, has reported on the opinions of relevant stakeholders both from Serbia and abroad, covering all segments of life, and opened up topics that were not written or talked about enough. With its latest issue, Diplomacy&Commerce is celebrating its second anniversary in Serbia. We are very proud of the fact that, in two years and 24 issues, we have managed to interview the leaders of the Serbian political, business and diplomatic community, as well as the renowned regional and the global public figures. In these past 24 issues, we have also published special supplements dedicated to overall relations between Serbia and European and world countries.
We have asked Serbian officials – Serbian PM, government ministers, ambassadors and representatives of business associations in Serbia – to give us their opinions about the most important changes that Serbia should make in order to become an EU member, and about the investment climate in the West Balkan region.
1. What do you think are essentially the most important changes that Serbia should make in order to be ready for EU membership by 2025?
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Do Serbia and the Western Balkans have enough capacity to attract large multi-nation companies to their markets?
1 Serbia is on the path to progress and prosperity, with EU membership as the country’s ultimate goal. The authorities have been noticeably and persistently working on comprehensive reforms in the country, and on fulfilling tasks that have been put in front of Serbia. We believe that these efforts will result in the opening of new accession chapters, and in finding acceptable solutions to outstanding issues, which will all bring the country closer to the European community. We wish Serbia and the friendly Serbian people a lot of success and to achieve their goal in the desired period.
2 Absolutely! This is seen in an increasing number of foreign investors from all over the world, including Arab countries, who have recognized the benefits of doing business in this region. We would like to highlight the good geostrategic position of the country and the region as a whole, the wealth of its natural resources, the highly qualified people and the benefits that are available to foreign investors. From our point of view, Serbia is an extremely attractive destination for investing in different areas, and the reforms implemented by the government, as part of the European integration process, will contribute to the efficiency of operations and project implementation. We expect the cooperation to intensify in the coming period.