Vucic and U.S. official discuss "strengthening partnership"

Vucic and U.S. official discuss "strengthening partnership"

Vucic informed the U.S. delegation about "the good results of the fiscal consolidation and other economic measures which Serbia is taking in order to improve business environment in the country."

He said Air Serbia's direct Belgrade-New York flights "will facilitate contacts of businesspeople and thus significantly contribute to the strengthening of economic ties between Serbia and the United States."

The prime minister said he "expects greater presence of US investors, which would mean the transfer of work habits and entrepreneurial spirit onto Serbian workers."

Jones noted that the Serbian government "made an impressive progress by adopting a set of laws to reform business practice in Serbia, such as the Labor Law, and underlined that their full implementation is of crucial importance, as well as the transparency of tender processes and the fight against gray economy and corruption."

He also gave Vucic the Roadmap - a strategy of development of economic relations between Serbia and the United States.

According to Jones, quoted by the Serbian government's website, the U.S. Department of Commerce drafted this document after the visit of Prime Minister Vucic to Washington, on the basis of initiatives made during his talks with US officials.

The Roadmap "emphasizes that need for strengthening trade and other economic ties between the two countries due to the importance of the Serbian-American partnership for the stability and prosperity of the region."

The American side "believes that conditions for foreign investors have been significantly improved in Serbia and that is the reason why more and more companies from the United States are considering the possibility of investing."

The United States is therefore ready to work together with the Serbian government to encourage mutual trade and investments in the fields of IT, energy, infrastructure, manufacturing of parts for the automotive industry, as well as health care, Jones said.

"This also entails the expansion of operations of US companies that are already present on the Serbian market," the U.S. official concluded.