Dr Slobodan Korac, the vice president of the Belgrade Chamber of Commerce and Peter Bishop the Deputy president of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed a memorandum of cooperation between the two Chambers on January 30 2007. 

The memorandum would facilitate contacts and cooperation between companies and businesses in Belgrade and London. Plans were also discussed for a visit of a London trade delegation to Belgrade which would explore possibilities of enhancing business ties.

Serbia's budget surplus will top CSD 40 billion and consolidated surplus will reach about CSD 5 billion by the end of the year, Tanjug reported yesterday, quoting Finance Minister Mladjan Dinkic.

In January-September, budget revenues stood at CSD 364.2 billion and spending at CSD 333.9 billion, Dinkic said, adding that Serbia expects to increase budget revenues by CSD 14.5 billion and reduce outlays by CSD 10.5 billion by the end of the year.

A tender to award the third mobile license is expected to pour at least a further EUR 320 million into state coffers in November, the minister said. By the end of the year, the government will make an early USD 410 million repayment of its 2007, 2008, and 2009 debt to the World Bank and repay a CSD 8.7 billion pension debt, he went on to say, noting that Serbia will report a record USD 4.1 billion in foreign direct investment this year.

The London Chamber of Commerce together with the Embassy of Serbia in London organised a seminar "Discover the Business Possibilities in Serbia", at London Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 6 September 2006. More than thirty firms from different lines of business, interested in investing in Serbia, took part in it.

The review of markets was given by Velimir Gavrilovic, Assistant Minister in the Ministry of International Economic Relations of the Republic of Serbia, and Slobodan Korac, Vice-President of the Belgrade Chamber of Commerce.

The issue of export and investment possibilities was reported on by David Webb, Consultant and ex-Head of Trade Sector in the British Embassy in Belgrade.

Legal aspects of business management were given by Marie Kingston, lawyer in Simmons & Simmons, renowned solicitor firm dealing with the Balkans, and Sonja Lucic, legal representative of the Price Waterhouse Coopers.

The seminar also included two successful cases of investment business with Serbia – Mihailo Crnobrnja, Special Advisor to the Board of Directors for South-Eastern Europe, explained the example of the British American Tobacco while Milan Novkovic, General Director of the Q-Sphere Technologies, company dealing with software export from Serbia to Great Britain and the sponsor of this event, presented their breakthrough to foreign markets.

The participants were particularly interested, among other, in legislation and Serbia’s prospective accession to the EU. The networking followed the seminar.

UK based Alena Ltd will invest 3 miilon EUR to build textile manufacturing plant in Vranje Serbia.

The company will build the facility on the grounds of Vranje clothing manufacturer YUMCO and create some 3000 jobs with plans to trasform the site into Alena's manufacturing headquarters for Europe.

The UK firm hopes to produce 100,000 clothing items weekly with total annual worth of EUR 6 million accoring to Savvas Yianni CEO and owner of Alena with whom the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia and The Serbian Investment Promotion and Export agency has been working closely leading to the investment.

Alena also intend to take part in the upcoming tender for the sale of YUMCO which is expected in 2007.

The Minister of the economy of the Republic of Serbia Dr Predrag Bubalo met on June 27 2006  with Ian McCartney, UK Minister for Trade, Investment and Foreign affairs.

In a frank and open discussion possibilities of enhancing cooperation between the Ministry of Economy of Serbia and UK Trade and Investment particularly in the field of public private partnerships and privatization of public utilities were discussed.

Minister Bubalo invited Minister McCartney to lead a UK  trade and investment delegation to Serbia which Minister McCartney accepted subject to the confines of his schedule.

The Embassy of Serbia and Montenegro in London, in conjunction with the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, is organizing a seminar on opportunities of enhancing trade and investment links between Serbia and Montenegro and the UK. The presentation in the Greater Chamber of Commerce of Manchester  ChamberLink is scheduled for 16th March, 2006 at 12:30 at Churchgate House, 56 Oxford Street, Manchester M60 7HJ.

The same seminar, in conjuction with the Simmons&Simmons law firm, will be held on 17th March, 2006, from 2.00 to 5.00 pm, at their premises:

CityPoint
One Ropemaker Street
London EC2Y 9SS

It is expected that the event should be attended by between about fifty British companies in both Manchester and London.

The tentative list of speakers from the SCG side is as follows:

Serbia

• Dr Predrag Bubalo, Minister of the Economy of Serbia
• Nenad Penezic, Vice President of the Chamber of Economy of Serbia
• Bojan Stanojevic, Manager of the City of Belgrade
• Irena Posin, for the Serbian Agency for Promotion of Investment and Export
• Representatives of British American Tobacco
• “Tigar” - Pirot tyre manufacturers

Montenegro

• Nada Mihajlovic, Assistant Minister, Ministry for International Economic Relations of Montenegro
• Dragoljub Draskovic, Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro

For any enquiries please contact the Economic sector of the Embassy:
+0207235 9049, ext 117.

In the World Bank and International Finance Corporation publication "Doing Business in 2006" Serbia and Montenegro led the league table among 155 countries as the top reformer in 2004.

Serbia and Montenegro led in making the kinds of reforms that can spur growth in firms and jobs improving in 8 out of 10 areas studied by Doing Business.

The capital requirement for starting a new business was cut from 5,000 euros to 500. The time to start a new business was reduced from 51 days to 15. A new labor law made it easier to hire workers by allowing firms to offer term contracts rather than having to hire under indefinite contracts even when addressing temporary needs. The time to resolve commercial disputes fell from 1,028 days to 635, thanks to a new code of civil procedure. Payroll and sales tax were replaced by a value added tax which is easier to collect.

The number of new registered firms in 2004 jumped by 42 % over the previous year.

A key conference to promote investment in Serbia was hosted by HRH Crown Prince Alexander at the Claridge's Hotel, London, on 18 April. Presentations were given by Dr Milan Parivodic and Mr Danko Djunic, Director of the Economic Institute in Belgrade. The conference was attended by over 100 leaders and representatives of the United Kingdom business community, as well as by Dr Dragisa Burzan, Ambassador of Serbia and Montenegro to the UK and the members of the Embassy's staff. HRH Crowned Prince Alexander also hosted a lunch for the invitees.

The delegation had several other meetings with the leading British companies arranged by the Embassy of Serbia and Montenegro in London, such as: British Telecom, Vodafone (telecommunications), British Petroleum, Shell, Kellog, AMEC, Pemed, Bailey Fiewlder (oil and gas processing industry), British Water and other companies (waterpower engineering and
agriculture), AMPY Automation Diglog (producers of water and electricity meters). Meetings at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Europe Directorate) the Department for Trade and Industry, the Department of International Development and the UK Farmers Union were also arranged. Representatives of Open Door Company discussed the possibilities for export of agricultural and food products from Serbia to the UK. A seminar on "Legal Aspects on Investment and Privatization in Serbia", attended by top banks and law firms representatives, was held in the International Financial Services, London.

On the occasion the Embassy of Serbia and Montenegro offered a reception.