On 27 September, the Diaspora Business Council held its first meeting at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.

In the next four years, the Diaspora Business Council will be a programming and operational body dealing with the achievement of specific goals in various topics, from the diaspora investment support system in cooperation with the partners in Serbia taken over from the Link UP! Serbia II project, through the green agenda in the private sector to supporting the organization of business conferences with the diaspora.

Members of the Diaspora Business Council will include representatives of the institutions of the Republic of Serbia, local self-governments having large diaspora or those interested in cooperating with the diaspora, and professors and technical faculties from Serbia and the diaspora in various programs and sectors selected according to the goals of the new Strategy for the Diaspora Business Council 2023-2027.

Serbian Chamber of Commerce (SCC) developed the 2023-2027 Diaspora Business Council Strategy under the auspices of UNDP and with funding of the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC).

The Serbian Chamber of Commerce’s (SCC) Diaspora Business Council Strategy 2023-2027, which was presented at the SCC, was designed as project-oriented, which, as stated, means that specific activities aim to achieve the set goals.

The head of the SCC Investment and Diaspora Support Center, Đorđe Andrić, said that the first thematic area of work would be export support where foreign companies interested in importing products from Serbia would be sought.

According to him, the second segment relates to supporting a group of 10 global diaspora entrepreneurial projects, which would connect the high technologies that the diaspora can bring with the science and technology parks in Serbia.

‘We would like to develop further the business atlas of Serbia and the diaspora, as an online platform where projects can be presented. Regarding areas for investment, we identified the areas of tourism and circular economy as those that will be the main topics in our economy in the coming period, in addition to renewable energy sources, and the next area is support to female entrepreneurs from the diaspora, where we have had good experience’, he said.

He added that one work segment also related to donor support, primarily in connection with organizing conferences abroad.

The Minister without portfolio in charge of the diaspora, Đorđe Milićević, pointed out that the diaspora had great financial and human capital and that it was important for successful businessmen in Serbia to connect with those from the diaspora and their business partners.

‘It is important that we also connect local self-governments and that they have the opportunity to present their potential at investment conferences outside Serbia and raise interest with potential investors to invest in Serbia. It is wrong to perceive people from the diaspora only as humanitarians, rather, we should make them great investors’, he said.

He noted that the ministry under his lead would be glad to be a partner of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce in the implementation of the activities foreseen in the Diaspora Business Council Strategy.

The Director of the SCC Strategic Analyses, Services and Internationalization Sector, Mihailo Vesović, pointed out the necessity of awareness that diaspora’s role is extremely important for economic strengthening of the country.

‘Times have changed, technology also, and diaspora composition and structure are now different because among our people abroad there are more and more successful managers and scientists who can contribute to the technological development of Serbia and help increase our exports’, he said.

‘We will work in groups on new technologies development, investment support, on tourism development’, Vesović noted and added that the next forum at the end of the year would summarize what had been done on strategy implementation in the previous three months.

Source: Radio Television of Serbia – Tanjug – Serbian Chamber of Commerce

Photo: Serbian Chamber of Commerce