Stability crucial for attracting investment - Mini economic summit for Western Balkans held by EBRD

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) yesterday gathered seven prime ministers from the region, representatives of the EU and international financial institutions, and potential investors at an event in London dedicated to the stronger economic bonding and the presentation of investment opportunities in the Western Balkans.
Participants in this mini economic summit noted that stability and mutual cooperation were the key factors for economic progress and the presentation of the Western Balkans as an "investment destination". Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic presented the results that Serbia achieved in the creation of favorable business and investment environment, pointing out that no project can and would be implemented if the region lacked stability.
- We're not going to tell you stories, investors are not charity workers - they want profit. There's nobody who would invest in instability - Dacic stressed.

Pointing to the significance of good neighbor relations, Dacic underlined that "we must organize our relationships better" and "stop excessive talking about brotherhood and start discussing mutual interests."

At a press conference that followed the plenary session, Dacic stressed that Serbia was encouraging development and expecting investments that should generate new jobs, pointing out that a highly educated manpower was also one of the advantages of the region and Serbia.

- Our wish is to initiate investments that will drive development, especially in the IT industry, as well as to develop science incubators and research centers in order to generate investments that will stay in our country - he underlined.

When asked how the market economy functioned in the conditions when fuel prices in Serbia were artificially maintained at a low level, Dacic agreed that was a problem but also an open issue of the reform of public sector and public companies.

- That is definitely a problem. If you ask citizens, everybody will say that the fuel is still expensive. If you ask experts, they'll say that fuel prices are already much below a sustainable and realistic level... When it comes to natural gas, we buy it at a higher price than we sell it at, which makes no sense from the viewpoint of economics. The question is how to gradually develop a tariff system that will enable that public company to operate as it should - he said.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule pointed out that the development of mutual understanding would encourage economic development, stressing that the region was facing the same challenges that the EU was experiencing in the times of crisis.

At the forum in London, he unveiled a new investment model adopted by the European Commission - the plan for the new approach to investing in the Western Balkans with the aim of recovering the region from the current economic crisis.

According to Fule, there is still no country in the Western Balkans with a functional market economy. A high unemployment rate particularly affects young people, while deficit and public debt are increasing....

The new approach to investing calls for Western Balkan countries to adopt national plans for economic reforms with the help of EC, IMF and EBRD experts, so they could create a favorable climate and attract investors.

As Fule said, the EU is already having a dialogue about annual macroeconomic and fiscal programs with everybody but Pristina, and now it is preparing to improve it by "focusing on key structural reforms".

Fule also invited investors that participated in the event in London to use the chance and identify all the fields in which regional countries could create conditions for investments.

EBRD Evropska banka za obnovu i razvoj

Vlada Republike Srbije

Delegacija Evropske unije u Republici Srbiji Beograd

Međunarodni monetarni fond - MMF Beograd

IMF Washington D.C.

EBRD London

London

economic summit Western Balkans

Ivica Dacic

science incubators

IT incubators

European Commission

Stefan Fule

investing in the Western Balkans

budget deficit

public debt

unemployment

instrument of pre accession assistance

IPA

IPA 2