Foreign Investors Say Digitalization, Electronic Business Advanced Most

Foreign Investors Council Presented the White Book 2021 – FIC , Belgrade , Nov. 22 2022 (BETAPHOTO/SERBIAN GOVERNMENT/SLOBODAN MILJEVIC)

The Foreign Investors' Council (FIC), which provides recommendations to the Serbian government for improving the business climate in the country, gave the best grade for advancement in the field of digitalization and electronic business for the second year in a row, it was announced in the "White Paper 2022" publication that was presented in Belgrade on Nov. 22.

In the 20th White Paper, which contains 372 recommendations in ten priority fields, the pharmaceutical industry and the fight against illegal trade also hold high positions, while the hospitality and tourism were placed in the publication for the first time.

According to the FIC Index, regulations were also improved in the energy sector in the period from November 2021 to October this year. Progress was moderate in the sectors of telecommunication and fight against illegal trade, while labor law and insurance registered no progress in the past year.

This year's issue of the White Paper reads that, of the 345 recommendations from last year, progress had been recorded in 25 percent of them, with no progress in the remaining 75 percent. In the first 25 percent, progress was significant in six, and moderate in 19 percent of recommendations.

It was pointed out that, due to the circumstances, priorities in FIC's new recommendations had been modified compared with the previous year and that, in this context, intensifying of negotiations with the EU became the key priority. FIC has 116 members, operating in 21 sectors of commerce, which have invested 36 billion euros so far and which employ around 100,000 people.