September 25, 2023, Belgrade – in the premises of Hotel M, organized by the Stena Business Club Association, and under the auspices of the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of Diaspora, a round table was held on the topic “Investment and business opportunities in the Republic of Serbia”.
Opening the meeting, the president of the Stena Business Club, Aleksandar Bursać, pointed out the economic benefits of connecting and cooperating with business people from the diaspora. He pointed out that the Stena Business Club has been working intensively on strengthening economic, cultural and sports ties with our people abroad since its foundation.
Zoran Anđelković, special adviser to the minister without portfolio in charge of diaspora, says that it is not our role to convince people from the diaspora to invest in Serbia.
Our task is to create the conditions and to help investments from the diaspora to be implemented as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Vladimir Jorga, one of the founders of Business Club Stena and a respected sports worker, pointed out how important it is to educate children through activities. He said that the Stena Business Club should be the rock, the foundation of such activities. Jorga invited businessmen to get involved in future projects.
“The potentials of our people around the world are huge, and that’s why meetings like this are very important,” said the president of the National Support Association, Maja Jovanović. She said that we have to exchange experiences because people from the diaspora are ready to invest in Serbia and to help in return.
“Despite the turbulence and challenges on the road to “Open Balkan”, we are sure that the close connection of the economies of Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania can bring results in all other important fields as well” – says the president of the Association “Prosrb” and business club from Tirana Nenad Stanković. He emphasized that such a wider market brings greater investment opportunities for the Serbian diaspora as well.
Dejan Matić returned from California and now lives in Belgrade. Through his company Knak, he employed a large number of different experts in Serbia who work on the production of courses and training for the needs of American education.
“In America, the biggest budget is set aside for education, over 700 billion dollars a year, and this is a great opportunity and potential for Serbia that we must use,” says Matić.
Nenad Davidović, legal advisor of the Stena Business Club, says that Serbia has the legal regulations necessary for investments from the diaspora. He also said that there is a need to offer investors from the diaspora ready-made solutions on what and where to invest.
One of the founders of the Stena Business Club, Dejan Lazović, spoke about the importance of cultural cooperation between the diaspora and the motherland. He pointed out that it is necessary to intensify media promotion of Serbian culture abroad.
Former automotive ace and honorary president of the Sports Car and Karting Federation of Serbia, Miodrag Đelmaš, pointed out the importance of sports and the auto industry as a bond for cooperation between the diaspora and the mother country. He said that as a new member of the Stena Business Club, he will be active in order to make as many contacts as possible with people from the world of sports.
Vesna Pavlović, a businesswoman from Rimini, got involved with a video link from Italy. She says that, like many of our people from Italy, she is interested in both returning and investing in Serbia. She emphasized that it would be good if interested investors could find all the information needed for the realization of a particular project in one place.
The conclusion of the meeting based on the opinions expressed is that Serbia has potential for investments and a legal framework for cooperation with the diaspora, but it is necessary to work much more on connecting the diaspora and the motherland.
