On May 19th, Anthony Godfrey, the Ambassador of the United States of America to Serbia, praised U.S. -Serbian economic relations as one of the strongest and continually developing aspects of the relations between the two countries.
"Serbia is an exciting market and the United States have proven to be an excellent economic partner," he said, opening the Serbian American Trade and Investment Relations conference organized by East West Bridge (EWB) and the Serbian American Friendship Congress (SAFC) in cooperation with AmCham.
Godfrey added that the meeting served to highlight the volume of trade relations between the two countries and the importance of the United States for the economic future of Serbia.
The President of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Serbia, Zoran Petrović, pointed out that the trade relations between Serbia and the USA are improving, especially in the field of services.
He reminded the conference that AmCham is the largest independent, private association whose goal is to improve the business climate in Serbia.
"There are obstacles and we are working on them together, primarily in the rule of law, as well as improving the efficiency of public administration, the judiciary and a series of procedures, in order to improve economic results and attract even more investment by American companies in Serbia, "said Petrović.
The President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Marko Čadež, stressed the great importance of preferential trade relations with the USA for the Serbian economy and the need to adopt laws avoiding double taxation.
"It is also very important that we ensure that our businesspeople, primarily engineers, get faster work permits for the jobs that they are temporarily doing in the United States," Čadež said.
He pointed out that Serbia’s export of high-tech products is on the rise, and that a large part of it goes to the US market.
Member of the Assembly of Serbia and SAFC co-founder Vladimir Marinković said that the United States give great support to the integration and economic progress of the Southeast Europe.
"It is crucial that the United States recognizes that only through the development of the economy and trade relations can the region modernize and progress towards European integration," he said.
Closing the session, EWB President Jovan Kovačić pointed out that this was only the second in a series of monthly panels organized by EWB and SAFC on different topics pertaining to US-Serbian relations and announced future panels on finance, culture, military and judicial cooperation.