Franc But, Slovenian ambassador to Belgrade - Formation of Investors' office in the pipeline

(Franc But, Slovenian ambassador to Belgrade)

The Embassy of Slovenia to Belgrade plans to visit major cities in Serbia in order to encourage a more intense economic cooperation between the two countries. In an interview for eKapija, Ambassador Franc But speaks about that and other projects aimed at increasing the volume of economic exchange.

eKapija: You spoke about the Investors' Office project at the April meeting of the Slovenian Business Club. Have you already established contacts with interested companies?

- It is a new project of the Slovenian embassy to Serbia. An office within the embassy building will be placed at the disposal of Slovenian companies or individuals who do not have an office in Serbia and want to come and stay here for several days in a search for new business opportunities. In that way, we will provide them with a phone line, Internet access and all the necessary information. I hope that this office will be ready by the end of May, but everything depends on the solutions concerning some technical issues, which requires our cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia.

Although such office has never existed before, the embassy has always intensively participated in numerous other activities aimed at satisfying the needs of Slovenian companies, which seek, expect and highly appreciate such support. I am satisfied with the our previous work with companies and I hope that entrepreneurs share my opinion. We will provide them with a space for presentations, business to business contacts, business lunches, lobbying, etc. However, there is much more we can and should do. There is a also a problem with staff limitations, which is why it is good that we cooperate with the Slovenian Business Club, the Chamber of Commerce and some other organizations as much as possible.

eKapija: You also plan to visit Kragujevac. Who will be members of the delegation and what is the aim of the visit to Sumadija?

- We plan to visit Kragujevac in May and that visit will be similar to the one we organized few months ago when we went to Nis. I hope we will gather many participants. All those interested are welcome. I would like to use this opportunity to invite all those who think that Kragujevac and its surroundings represent a region that can offer interesting business and investment opportunities. The focus will be on a cooperation in the automotive industry, but all entrepreneurs are welcome. Anybody who thinks that Kragujevac has something interesting to offer will be able to meet with potential business partners, regardless of their core activities. This visit will be organized in association with the Slovenian Business Club. We will also pay a visit to the city management and then organize individual meetings with local enterprises, as well as a small presentation of present companies.

eKapija: You have also announced visits to Smederevo and Bor, as well as a cooperation with companies U.S. Steel and Mining Smelter Basin (RTB) Bor. What kind of cooperation with these cities and companies do you have in mind?

- These visits will be similar to the visit to Kragujevac. However, the initiative for visits to Smederevo and Bor has come directly from some companies that would like to cooperate with companies such as U.S. Steel and RTB Bor so that I expect the delegation to primarily include companies from these industrial branches. We plan to visit Bor in late May, while Smederevo will be visited in June.

eKapija: Do you also see Brand Fair in Belgrade as a form of promotion of your country and a greater economic presence?

- Yes. We are currently negotiating with the organizer of the Brand Fair on naming Slovenia the country partner of the next year's Brand Fair. In that way, Slovenia would be able to present itself to the public in Serbia as a country with strong brands that represent the guarantee of their own quality. Expectations from such fair are not so much related to some new concrete business projects, but primarily to the strengthening of the already positive opinion of consumers about Slovenian brands, which should result in larger sales. Our wish is to present some new brands along with those already well-known and strong ones.

Ambasada Republike Slovenije Beograd

Slovenački poslovni klub Beograd

Ministrstvo za zunanje zadeve Republike Slovenije

Gospodarska zbornica Slovenije Ljubljana

Gospodarska zbornica Slovenije - GZS Beograd

Privredna komora Srbije

Grad Kragujevac

Železara Smederevo d.o.o.

Serbia Zijin Copper doo Bor

FCA Srbija Kragujevac

Mass-Media-International Beograd - u likvidaciji

Slovenian Embassy to Belgrade

Franc But

Ljubljana

Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Investors Office

Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia