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Belgrade – The Council of Foreign Investors (FIC) in the new edition of the “White Paper 2020” notes that the development of the Serbian economy is based on six pillars.
Source: Tanjug
Photo: Depositphotos, khunaspix
It is about transport, energy, telecommunications, digitization and e-business, real estate and construction, labor and human capital.
As said, in 2020, Serbia maintained its strategic position in the region in all types of transport: road, rail, air and sea transport.
According to the FIC, the previous year, as well as this year, continued to improve all modes of transport, not only in technical terms, but also in terms of signing contracts and negotiations with the executive authorities of neighboring countries, as well as with investors. foreign.
The three main characteristics of the state of transport in Serbia are the maintenance of the existing infrastructure, its modernization and harmonization with European standards.
However, they add, the outbreak of the pandemic negatively affected the development of transport and, in particular, they point out, the time spent at border crossings has been extended.
They claim that the Initiative for the Establishment of “Green Corridors” is currently focused on the time period in which there is an epidemic, but should, they say, consider continuing to support the established system even after the situation stabilizes.
Some of the Council’s recommendations related to transportation are that additional incentives should be introduced for the construction of infrastructure for the use of electric vehicles, provide an adequate regulatory framework that allows the development of the sector, adjust the Energy Law to recognize and promote the use of electricity in the transport sector. ..
Regarding the second pillar of development, energy, the Council states that Serbia has fully adopted the regulatory framework in accordance with the EU’s third energy package and has “de jure” liberalized the electricity market.
With regard to renewable energy sources, the Council notes that a new package of regulations to encourage the production and sale of renewable energy has not yet been adopted.
In the field of energy efficiency, they say, several energy efficiency improvement projects have been successfully awarded to private investors for public lighting throughout Serbia.
Some of the recommendations of the Council for the Improvement of this sector are: the regulation of electricity prices should be abandoned, which would allow new investments in the modernization and revitalization of coal and electricity production, the intraday market should be introduced, consider the introduction of coal tariff instruments. .
Furthermore, the recommendations are that the incentive system should be adapted to accelerate investment in the renewable energy sector and follow the joint guidelines of the EBRD and the Energy Community.
Regarding the third pillar, telecommunications, the Council says that the synergy between the Government of Serbia and the electronic communications operator marked the activities in 2020, which was triggered by the coronary virus pandemic.
The results of these activities, they say, have had a positive impact on the entire society and economy of Serbia.
Some of the recommendations of the Council for the Improvement of Telecommunications are the improvement of regulations and their interpretation in the field of infrastructure construction, the joint cooperation of the state and the industry in the choice of models and periods of public bidding of the spectrum of radio frequency for the development of 5G technology.
Then, the approval of the new Electronic Communications Law and leaving sufficient deadlines for the implementation of the prepaid user registry and other innovations in the law.
The fourth pillar of economic development is digitization and electronic commerce, and the Council affirms that it includes electronic commerce, electronic identification and documentation, as well as the business of administrative bodies, including the connection of public databases.
They point out that during the pandemic, a large number of companies in our country organized work “from home”, that a large number of citizens began to use the services of the e-Government portal, developed numerous new services, and administrative procedures that before required queuing. , have never been faster and more accessible.
One of the main recommendations in this area is that it is extremely important to use centralized databases and enable the exchange of data between the Tax Administration and companies, with the objective that the data, first of all, on the income of the citizens, with the consent of citizens, can be used in the processes. loans online, which, according to the Council, would significantly eliminate the need for paper documentation and allow the purchase of credit products completely online.
The fifth pillar of development is real estate and construction, and the City Council affirms that, as in last year’s edition of the White Paper, the focus remains on the implementation of the Planning and Construction Law, the application of the procedure unified for obtaining construction documents, legalization of existing facilities in accordance with the new regulations. land in property law and application of the regulations on cadastre and cadastral proceedings.
The last pillar of development is the workforce and human capital, and the City Council indicates that there were no improvements in the previous year, although they were expected, both through reforms to the Labor Law and in judicial decisions.
All this, they say, was followed by the coronary virus pandemic, which fundamentally changed the job market.
Therefore, the State had to intervene with decrees and recommendations, as indicated, not only to apply incentives to maintain employment, but also to specify the rights and obligations of employees and employers in the new circumstances.
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