Ready for Business, Serbia Redefines its Image
You can't export if people are afraid to do business with you. This is a problem that has faced Serbia. Tasked with helping Serbian companies increase revenues and create jobs, USAID's Serbia Enterprise Development Project (SEDP) knows that having great products isn't enough. If buyers and investors think a country is too unstable to do business in, growth and recovery are impossible.
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| Mayor Bogdanovic and the “City of the Future” Award |
To counter negative news reports that were driving away business, USAID has worked with the Serbia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SIEPA) to draw attention to positive economic developments in Serbia - improved stability, modernized infrastructure, low corporate tax rates, and especially strong greenfield investment. The idea is to let Serbia's record of achievement speak for itself.
In December 2005, SIEPA and SEDP collected data and prepared the country's national bid for the annual "Cities and Regions of the Future" contest, sponsored by the Financial Times/FDI Magazine. The popular contest ranks locations worldwide for their business and investment potential based on 28 individual criteria in seven categories.
As a result, Serbia's capital city of Belgrade landed the top regional award as "City of the Future: Southern Europe". The award earned Belgrade a position with Paris, London, Baku and Brno as one of the best places in Europe to do business. Belgrade Major Nenad Bogdanovic received the
award in a ceremony organized by the Financial Times/FDI magazine in Cannes, France.
"From a city to be avoided, Belgrade has become a place that is recommended for investments. This is very important for us because only new investments can create new jobs and ensure a better life," said Bogdanovic in accepting the award.
The recognition is now helping SIEPA to promote foreign direct investment and to sell Serbian goods abroad. The geographical category for Southern Europe included Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, the Mediterranean isles, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia and Turkey. A total of 89 hopeful locations filed bids with FDI Magazine to join the list of Cities and Regions of the Future.
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