FIC Executive Director participated at the Meeting on the CEFTA implementation
24. June 2009
Ana Firtel Vlajic participated at the meeting between the Chambers of Commerce of the FYR and CEFTA countries, organized by Serbian Chamber of Commerce. The main topic of this meeting was how Chambers activities could help in overcoming the negative effects of the economic crisis. The subtopic was related to the dynamics of the CEFTA implementation.
The FIC Executive Director thanked the Serbian Chamber of Commerce for showing openness by inviting FIC to hear views of Chambers on how to further develop trade in this region. At the same time, Ana Firtel Vlajic conveyed the experiences of the FIC members regarding the issues related to the CEFTA implementation. She also added that the FIC acknowledged the given opportunity to share its view on Chambers and other association's role that they had and may have in these turbulent times.
Ana Firtel Vlajic mentioned that foreign companies view CEFTA as very important component of this market, as well as business climate of the whole region. Foreign investor as any other investor saw clear difference in the figures, meaning that it was not the same whether the market counted 7 or 20 million people. The significance of this Agreement was in the fact that it indirectly led to ease of the conditions for doing business, as it represented guarantee of the freedom of trade. It might also help investors to find potential partners for joint good placement without custom barriers. This Agreement was also a positive sign to the potential investors that countries of Southeast Europe were stabile and good for the investment.
In closure, the FIC Executive Director added that there was a joint responsibility to point to the issues in the CEFTA implementation, as it was a first step towards the problem solving. Foreign investors expected that all parties in this process would show readiness and determination to make continuous efforts in order to solve these issues, and thus contribute to the overall improvement of the business climate in the region.
17. July 2010