German companies that are working in Serbia are sending positive signals to other investors and claim that our country is a good investment destination, Delegation of German industry in Serbia stated last week on the basis of research done among members of this association. The most convincible is the part of the questionnaire where 88% of members answered positively on the question if they would like to invest in Serbia again. This put our country on the most popular investments destinations’ top list again.
It is right behind EU members, Estonia, Poland, Lithuania and it is convincingly in front for German industry of traditionally important markets like Czech, Romanian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Hungarian and Slovenian.
It is interesting that 37% of companies covered by questionnaire are planning the increase of its investments while 39% stress employment increase as the most important. “Working cadres and market were positively estimated: qualification and motivation of employees, their complete academic education, productivity and availability of qualified workers, as well as work expenses”, it is said in the statement from delegation.
German industrials, however, are not keeping their eyes closed in front of difficulties and they claim that state priority should be solving the question of inefficiency of public direction, complicated bureaucracy, insufficient fight against corruption and criminal and establishment of legal equality. There are more negative estimations of general industry situation in the country which is estimated as bad by 79% of respondents and only 21% have positive expectations for this year.
According to the words of Ronald Seeliger, President of German-Serbian Industry Association and Managing Director of Hemopharm, Germany was the most significant Serbian external trade partner and trade balance of these two countries has achieved 2,5 billion EUR again, which is a level before economy crisis.
“We can conclude from the questionnaire that further investments and establishment of business relations between these two countries depend a lot from general improvement of business conditions: more powerful fight against criminal and corruption is required, state direction supposes to be more efficient, procedures more simple. Mentioned factors and improvement of legal security are preconditions for attracting German investors to Serbia especially in small and middle companies”, Seliger stresses. Executive Director of this Company and Director of German Industry Delegation in Serbia, Michael Schmidt claims that businessmen from these associations “mostly support integration of Serbia into EU where they expect new impulses for increase of trade and investments as well as improvement of German-Serbian relations”
