Washington: Ambassador Đurić at the Doing Business with Serbia round table

The Doing Business with Serbia round table was held in Washington D.C. at the joint initiative of the American-Central European Business Association (ACEBA) as a continuation of activities aimed at promoting the economic potential of both the Balkans region and Serbia, which had started in December last year with the Doing Business with the Balkans round table.

The event was organised by ACEBA as a form of promoting economic, trade and investment potentials of the Republic of Serbia, with the aim of connecting and further improving cooperation with American commercial entities. ACEBA President Eric Stewart was the event host, and the speakers included Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and Special Envoy of the State Department for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar, US Ambassador to Serbia Christopher Hill, who joined via a video link from Belgrade, and Ambassador of Serbia to the USA Marko Đurić whose idea it had been to organise this meeting.

In his address, Ambassador Đurić expressed his gratitude for positive assessments and praises of Serbia's economic progress and development so far, which had been supported by an increasingly intensive presence of foreign companies and investors in Serbia. Speaking about the excellent and proactive cooperation with ACEBA, he suggested that ACEBA gather interested companies and organise a special business mission to Serbia — the suggestion was approved by those present and confirmed by ACEBA President Eric Stewart.

"Be confident in Serbia's full support and readiness to host a business and trade mission this autumn, which will open new doors to fulfilling our country's economic potential and further deepen our bilateral relations," Ambassador Đurić said. He pointed out the importance of organising events such as round tables, trade and business missions as an opportunity to build contacts, trust and cooperation, as key pillars of strengthening overall relations between Serbia and the United States. "Discussions and events like these, where new ideas, new initiatives and new ways of connecting our two countries are being born, pave the way for and provide additional impetus to our economic cooperation, while reflecting on other aspects of our bilateral relations," he noted.

Ambassador Đurić also stressed that the presence of Gabriel Escobar as High Representative of the State Department and US Ambassador Christopher Hill spoke volumes about the importance of bilateral initiatives of this kind, and confirmed USA’s support and readiness to further strengthen economic relations with Serbia.

Ambassador Đurić added that Serbia, led by President Aleksandar Vučić, remained committed to the goals of strengthening the positive reputation of the country as a favourable investment and economic environment, to the development of modern industries and digitalisation, and to the further improvement of bilateral and regional relations which — he believed — would be among the priorities of the future new government.

The round table brought together again representatives of large American and world corporations such as Philip Morris, Visa, Oshko Defence, Merck, UGT Renewables, Jacobs, Citigroup, Palo Alto, and others.