Silicon Valley giants to take part in Belgrade conference

Silicon Valley giants to take part in Belgrade conference

AmCham Serbia Executive Director Maja Piscevic pointed out in a statement for Tanjug that this regional initiative aims to "cover" Southeast Europe - a market of around 60 million people.

"That is, even for very serious investors from all over the world, a slice of the pie that is more than interesting, and a market in which they can achieve some of their biggest projects," she said.

According to Piscevic, the American Chamber of Commerce as the organizer of the ambitiously conceived gathering, dubbed, "The New Southeastern Europe", finds the support of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic "very important."

Vucic will be the host to his counterparts from those SEE countries that will be taking part in the conference expected to gather representatives form some 300 companies from around the world.

"I can confirm the arrival of high level representatives of Amazon, Google and PayPal, and several other companies to which we wish to present Serbia, but also the entire region, as an interesting and attractive destination for their future expansion," Piscevic explained.

She is convinced that what "recommends" Serbia and the region is "talent and knowledge."

Piscevic recalled that AmCham a year and a half ago, in collaboration with the government of Serbia and the U.S. emabassy, ​​organized a small investment conference in San Francisco, and added that American investors who already operate in Serbia "talked a lot about our people, their knowledge, energy, hospitality."

"That is a great potential, in addition to the geostrategic one, and the potential for investment in automotive industry, tourism, food production, information technology... Knowledge is very important and we want to focus on that during the conference," said Piscevic.

She added that one of the panels will be devoted to education and coordination of educational programs between the countries in the region, "so that we can address the needs of investors together."

In this sense, the plan is to comprehensively survey American chambers of commerce in the region about the type of knowledge and skills they need today, "and how they view these over the next five years."

Piscevic stated that "in the region, where Serbia is seen as the leader, the time has come to think strategically about attracting big investors to the whole of the territory."

"Of course we all want most investors to come to our country, but we must be realistic. When we talk about 'big players', they will always have an interest to see how to expand in the region. And so it is very important that there is awareness among the political elite that forging economic ties can truly be a good impetus for all countries that take part in it."

According to her, the upcoming conference and the eponymous, long term initiative have "many serious goals aimed at positioning the region differently."

Piscevic admitted that "much work remains to be done" in order to position the region as an investment destination, including education system reforms, training workers to acquire skills that are needed by investors, harmonizing customs procedures, joint fight against the gray economy, harmonization of regulations and the business environment.

"All these potentials we want to talk about during this conference," said Piscevic.

According to her, the companies that are already operating in the region, "or have it on their radar," find it significant that this area is today "politically stable" and, "unlike some parts of Europe," generates positive messages.

The conference has received the support of the German Marshall Fund, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, the Regional Cooperation Council, and the SIEPA agency.