Possibilities for stronger connections with British economy: ICT and energy sectors in focus

Serbia is looking to scale up its cooperation with the United Kingdom and British companies in a major way. We have the potential for not just our country, but the entire Western Balkans region, to strengthen the business connections and improve the economic relations with this important global partner in key sectors from ICT to energy. Business associations and institutions will be a strong support to companies and business people in that, the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia (CCIS), Marko Cadez, and the ambassador of the United Kingdom to Serbia to Belgrade, Edward Ferguson, said today at the opening of the Regional Conference on Trade between the United Kingdom and the Western Balkans.

– We want better and closer relations with the United Kingdom through increased trade, increased level of services, tourism and every kind of social activity. It is the sixth biggest economic force in the world, one of the biggest political forces, and an extremely important and reliable partner to us – president Vucic pointed out at the CCIS.

According to him, the aim is for there to also be more investors from the EU and Great Britain.

His message to British investors is that Serbia has no problem with the ratio of the public debt to the GDP, as it is 48.4% and, according to the estimates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, in the next three years, it will not exceed 50% of the GDP at any point. As for the safety of financing anything in Serbia and doing business with our country, there are no problems there, said Vucic, as announced on the CCIS website.

He is convinced that Serbian business people will find an interest in the market of Great Britain and that business people from the United Kingdom will find in Serbia a market for their products and understand that they can get price-competitive and high-quality products from Serbia, but also from the entire Western Balkans, because, as he said, that is a success of our country too.

The president of the CCIS, Marko Cadez, estimates that the future of cooperation between Serbia and the United Kingdom lies in the sector of information technologies and energy. At the opening of the Conference, he said that over 220 participants were present, the majority of them from the ICT sector, and that the gathering was a turning point in the economic relations of the two countries, but also the region.

He points out that the mutual trade is not at an enviable level. – It seems to me that this is due to the fact that we don’t know each other well enough, but if you buy a blueberry, raspberry or strawberry in the United Kingdom, know that it was grown here – said Cadez. He points out that the export of software from Serbia to the United Kingdom exceeds EUR 1 billion, which is more than the total goods exchange.

He adds that, in Serbia, 500 companies from the United Kingdom operate, which shows that there is an interest in cooperation. The president of the CCIS reminds that Serbia now exports more than EUR 4 billion worth of software. Software is the biggest and most important product in Serbia’s exports and that is a result of years of investments in the digital infrastructure. Talking about the energy sector, Cadez says that the future of cooperation lies in energy conservation systems, considering that, already now, it is difficult to satisfy the demand for electrical energy.

The U.K. ambassador to Belgrade, Edward Ferguson, estimates that now is the right time to improve the trade relations between the United Kingdom and the Western Balkans and that the constant growth of trade in the past 10 years is apparent.

– The Western Balkans region is growing fast, and in the case of Serbia, the projections are that it will be the biggest growth. Serbia has a fast economic growth and accessible workforce – said Ferguson. He emphasizes that the United Kingdom is an excellent partner to the region when it comes to information technologies and the green transition. Ferguson praised the efforts of the CCIS to foster regional partnerships and said that the U.K. Embassy in Serbia would support British companies looking to do business in the Serbian market.

Predsedništvo Republike Srbije

Privredna komora Srbije

Ambasada Velike Britanije Beograd

President of Serbia

Chamber of Commerce of Serbia

Embassy of the United Kingdom in Belgrade

Edward Ferguson

Aleksandar Vučić

Marko Čadež

Regional Conference on Trade between the United Kingdom and the Western Balkans

economic cooperation with Great Britain