CorD Magazine, April 2019, issue no. 174

DAS at the U.S. Department of State Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs

Morocco: One Of The World’s Best Tourist Destinations

www.cordmagazine.com

We Don’t Offer Ready-Made Solutions

H.E. CHOE HYOUNG CHAN

MOHAMMED SAJID

Moroccan Minister of Tourism, Air Transport, Handicrafts and Social Economy

Korean Ambassador to Serbia

Complete Denuclearisation For Peace On The Korean Peninsula APRIL 2019/ ISSUE NO. 174

MATTHEW PALMER

interviews opinions news comments events

PAVLE PETROVIĆ, PRESIDENT OF THE FISCAL COUNCIL OF SERBIA

Why Is Serbia

LAGGING BEHIND? HEALTH INSURANCE

DO WE HAVE THE RIGHT MEDICINES?

Exclusive SEBASTIAN KURZ

783002 771451 9

The Balkans Impact Austria Directly

ISSN1451-7833

AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR

CHAMPIONS OF HUMANITARIANISM Sunday 14th April 2019

The 32nd Belgrade Marathon

Become A Master Of Charity!

For 13 consecutive years, CorD magazine has organised its humanitarian run CorD Charity Masters, under the auspices of the Belgrade Marathon, member of “ World Marathon Majors“in which it is more important to be a humanitarian than a winner!

This year’s CorD Charity Masters run will be held alongside the 32nd Belgrade Marathon, on 14th April 2019.

We invite you to join us and run (or walk, if you prefer!) at least five kilometres to raise money for a charitable organisation of your choice.

During the past 13 years, participants in the CorD Charity Masters run have collected in excess of €148,000, which was donated to more than 57 different institutions and individuals who badly needed these funds

FREQUENT ASKED QUESTIONS: • Where do I register to participate in the CorD CHARITY MASTERS run?

Sign up via the email charitymasters@cordmagazine.com.

The deadline for registrations expires on 8th April.

• How do I raise money?

Every participant should secure a sponsor who will donate at least 400 dinars for every kilometre run during the race. The

most common sponsors are the companies whose employees participate by running, walking or strolling to raise money that they will donate to the cause of their choosing, either via CorD or by themselves.

• Will participants in the CorD Charity Masters run together with other participants of the Belgrade Marathon?

Yes, members of the CorD CHARITY MASTERS will start the race at the same time as other participants in the Belgrade Marathon.

• Where does the CorD Charity Masters run start?

As usual, we will gather from 8.30am to 9.30am at the latest on 14th April, on the perimeter of Pioneer Park (corner of Kneza Miloša Street and Kralja Aleksandra Boulevard).

MORE INFO» cordmagazine.com

CONTENTS

COMMENT

PAVLE PETROVIĆ

WHY IS SERBIA LAGGING BEHIND? The Serbian economy has been a growth underachiever for almost a decade, and that is the major structural issue at present. As a result, with respect to its level of development and living standards, Serbia ranks at the very bottom compared to EU countries

10 THE BALKANS IMPACT AUSTRIA DIRECTLY SEBASTIAN KURZ, Austrian Chancellor

24 GLOBAL DIARY 26 DO WE HAVE THE RIGHT MEDICINES? FOCUS: Health Insurance

32 YEAR OF RECOGNITION AND OBLIGATION DEJAN NIKOLIĆ Belgrade Marathon Director

ENTERPRENEUR: Martin Varsavsky

51 PROFESSIONALISM, FIRST AND FOREMOST NEDA TODOROVIĆ PH.D. University Professor, Journalist, Writer, Editor

52 INNOVATIVE, VIBRANT & THRIVING ARTISM

16 WE DON’T OFFER READY-MADE SOLUTIONS

MATTHEW PALMER Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of State - Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs

48 FOUNDER OF EIGHT SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES

CONTEMPORARY ART: Mexico

56 FACES & PLACES

34 SINCERE FRIENDSHIP BINDS OUR PEOPLES Giuseppe Conte, Italian Prime Minister

59 GIVE YOUR BEST IN WHATEVER YOU DO NENA STOILJKOVIĆ IFC Vice President for Asia and the Pacific

64 CHILL OUT

@CORD_MAGAZINE

@CORDMAGAZINE

H.E. CHOE HYOUNG CHAN Korean Ambassador to Serbia

CORD MAGAZINE

EDITOR IN CHIEF: Miroslava Nešić-Bikić m.bikic@aim.rs DESIGNER: Jasmina Laković j.lakovic@aim.rs CONTRIBUTORS: Rob Dugdale, Maja Vukadinović,

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66 THE SNEAKERS REVOLUTION

20 COMPLETE DENUCLEARISATION FOR PEACE ON THE KOREAN PENINSULA

Mirjana Jovanović, Miša Brkić, Ljubica Gojgić Radmila Stanković, Steve MacKenzie, Zorica Todorović Mirković, Sonja Ćirić, Miloš Belčević EDITORIAL MANAGER: Neda Lukić n.lukic@aim.rs PHOTOS: Zoran Petrović COPY EDITOR: Mark Pullen

TRANSLATION & EDITING MRP EDITORIAL Halifax Translation Services SALES MANAGERS: Biljana Dević, b.devic@aim.rs Nataša Trifunović, n.trifunovic@aim.rs Vesna Vukajlović, v.vukajlovic@aim.rs Mihailo Čučković m.cuckovic@aim.rs

FASHION

68 CULTURE CALENDAR 35 BUSINESS DIALOGUE OFFICE MANAGER: Svetlana Petrović s.petrovic@aim.rs

DIRECTOR: Ana Novčić a.novcic@aim.rs a.novcic@cordmagazine.com

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Comment

Why Is Serbia

Lagging Behind?

PAVLE PETROVIĆ

PRESIDENT OF THE FISCAL COUNCIL OF SERBIA

S

erbia’s GDP per capita (in PPP) is half that of Central and Eastern European countries, and a mere third of those of developed Western European countries.

While economic theory and empirical research suggest that a country with a lower initial GDP per capita level should systematically grow faster than more developed economies, due to the catchup effect, this is not what we observe in Serbia.

Quite the opposite in fact: GDP growth has actually been significantly lower than growth in CEE countries since 2010, which only served to further increase the existing gap between Serbia and these countries.

But why is Serbia failing to catch up to more developed European countries, even though it should be doing so, i.e. why is Serbia’s economy growing slower than those of CEE economies, even though convergence dictates otherwise? The answer appears to be threefold: deficient institutions (specifically lacking on the rule of law and control of corruption), a low level of public and private investments, and gap in educational achievement that hampers Serbia’s long-term economic growth prospects.

Serbia scores very poorly when it comes to quality of institutions in all relevant international studies. As troubling as it is that the country is lagging behind comparable countries, it is even more troubling that the trend has reversed since 2014: from gradual improvement on the control of corruption and the rule of law, to their deterioration. Furthermore, Serbia is investing only about 18% of its GDP, which is 5-6 p.p. lower

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The Serbian economy has been a growth underachiever for almost a decade, and that is the major structural issue at present. As a result, with respect to its level of development and living standards, Serbia ranks at the very bottom compared to EU countries than it should be, considering the country’s level of economic development and investments in comparable CEE countries.

It is estimated that Serbia is currently growing at two percentage points below its potential longterm growth rate: above 3% instead of around 5%.

The greatest single negative impact on economic growth (almost 1 p.p.) comes from underperforming institutions, while the rest can be attributed to low

The broader reform of social and economic fundamentals is needed if Serbia is to achieve its potential growth and eventually catch-up with comparable CEE countries, but some time is needed for that to bear fruit investment level (0.7 p.p.) and a poor education system (0.2 p.p.). These factors, thus, almost entirely explain Serbia’s aforementioned GDP growth gap.

On top of these underlying, structural issues facing the Serbian economy, some current problems have brought additional uncertainties in 2019.

Specifically, solid economic growth totals of 4.3% in 2018 mask the worsening macroeconomic trends in the second half of the year. Certainly contribut-

ing to this to some extent was the slowdown in the growth of large European economies, but it was primarily due to domestic factors, such as a sharp decline in EPS’s production of electricity that started in August 2018. The Government has thus far failed to respond adequately to these unfavourable short-term trends.

Although the slowdown in the second half of 2018 was evident, the Government missed an opportunity to compensate for it in 2019 by increasing public investments in infrastructure and allowing for larger reductions in the tax burden on private sector wages. Instead, the priority was given to excessive wage growth in the general government and the procurement of equipment for the military and police. Similarly, the Government of Serbia has yet to react to the obvious problems at EPS that led to a tangible drop in GDP growth rates for the second time in the past two years.

These policies – increasing its own investment and reforming EPS and other public enterprises – are the main tools at the government’s disposal for supporting short-term GDP growth. The broader reform of social and economic fundamentals is needed if Serbia is to achieve its potential growth and eventually catch-up with comparable CEE countries, but some time is needed for that to bear fruit. The main pillars of such reform should be improving the currently very poor business climate (i.e. control of corruption and the rule of law) and the poor quality of basic infrastructure in Serbia, while raising the country’s currently low credit rating could also stimulate private investments.

Interview Exclusive SEBASTIAN KURZ AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR

The Balkans Impact

Austria Directly Any solution (for Kosovo) needs to have the support of the major powers, particularly the permanent members of the Security Council. We have an interest in being in close partnership with the United States regarding the Western Balkans and to have their support in encouraging progress on this important issue – Sebastian Kurz 10

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STABILITY

EU accession is the best guarantee and leverage for stability in the region. I think the potential for development is huge

TRADE

I am happy to see that the trade exchange between Austria and Serbia has been developing well in recent years

EU

I think a lot of change is necessary in the European Union, but I’m pro-European, so I support those wanting to strengthen the Union

Serbia’s place is in the European Union, says Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in this interview for CorD, before adding: “Serbian citizens have to be aware that without the effective and comprehensive normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Priština there will be no accession to the European Union”. In contrast to impressions in Serbia that the country is actively endeavouring to strengthen international support to Kosovo, which Serbia Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić claimed was obvious in light of Kosovo’s attempt to secure membership in Interpol, Chancellor Kurz says that Austria supports both Belgrade and Priština in their dialogue on the normalisation of relations. Chancellor Kurz, you are perceived by the media as a European leader who wants to increase his country’s influence in the Western Balkans, but also his personal influence. Have they interpreted your policies well?

The Western Balkans is in our immediate neighbourhood. We have very strong historical, political, economic and human bonds with all the countries of the region. What happens in the Western Balkans impacts on us directly in Austria. This is why we have a clear interest in the stability and economic prosperity of this region. I also believe that countries like Serbia belong in the European Union. The European Union will therefore only be complete when the countries of the Western Balkans have joined. I have always supported the EU accession process of Serbia and the other countries of the region, and will continue to do so. Numerous analytical reports refer to the Western Balkans as a region in which instability remains greater than development potential. How do you see the situation?

EU accession is the best guarantee and lev-

We have very strong historical, political, economic and human bonds with all the countries of the region.

What happens in the Western Balkans impacts on us directly in Austria.

This is why we have a clear interest in the stability and economic prosperity of this region

erage for stability in the region. I think the potential for development is huge. The fact that Austria is among the largest investors in Serbia and the region’s other countries shows that we still see much more potential in the region. Stability is not a given, however. It requires constant work and political courage to settle bilateral disputes. More needs to be done. What are the key aspects of Austria’s cooperation with the countries of the Western Balkans, primarily Serbia?

We have very close political, economic and cultural relations. The most important connection is the diaspora population of Serbia and other countries of the region in Austria.

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Interview Exclusive Given that you claim to support the dialogue between Belgrade and Priština, do you not think that this dialogue is also an appropriate format for resolving the issue of Kosovo’s membership in international organisations?

We strongly support the dialogue between Belgrade and Priština, under the facilitation of the EU and Federica Mogherini. Serbian citizens have to be aware that without the effective and comprehensive normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Priština there will be no accession to the European Union. We have good relations with both Belgrade and Priština and try to support this process as much as possible. Resolving this issue will be to the benefit of both sides, and I sincerely hope that we will be able to see results as soon as possible. Given that you’re the chancellor of a state that’s a member of the EU, which is facilitating the Belgrade-Priština dialogue, how should we interpret your call for U.S. President Donald Trump to engage more on this issue?

They are a well-integrated and an important part of our society. On the other hand, we have more than 400 Austrian companies doing business in Serbia, providing approximately 18,000 jobs. We are among the top investors in Serbia, with over 2.3 billion euros invested to date. Our companies are interested in doing and expanding business in Serbia, and investing over the long term.

On a political level, we are strong supporters of the accession of Serbia and the region to the European Union. This process requires a number of reforms, and we are happy to support Serbia in this regard. Under President Vučić, a number of important reforms have already been tackled. Has the hostility between yourself and and Deputy PM Dačić impacted on bilateral relations between Austria and Serbia?

Austrian-Serbian bilateral relations are excellent and both countries have an interest in

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We have very close political, economic and cultural relations. The most important connection is the diaspora population of Serbia and other countries of the region in Austria.

They are a well-integrated and an important part of our society maintaining the excellent quality of these relations. I regularly meet with President Vučić and my counterpart, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, and we have excellent personal relations. I have known Ivica Dačić for a long time and saw him just recently in Vienna.

It is clear that a solution needs to be found, primarily by the two sides, in Belgrade and Priština, and that the EU is in the leading position to facilitate this process. But, at the end of the day, any solution needs to have the support of the major powers, in particular the permanent members of the Security Council. We have an interest in being in close partnership with the United States as regards the Western Balkans, and to have their support in encouraging progress on this important issue. In contrast to the EU’s official position, and that of Germany, you support the idea of dividing Kosovo. Many believe that bringing borders into question would lead to fresh instability across the entire region. How would you respond to that?

I have stated publicly that we will support what both sides can agree to, but it goes without saying that such a solution must contribute to more stability and not to more instability. I am confident that this is achievable.

Last year saw a new record in the trade exchange between Austria and Serbia, with the total exceeding a billion euros. Do you see opportunities for new Austrian investments in Serbia?

First of all, I am happy to see that the trade exchange between Austria and Serbia has been developing well in recent years. However, there is always room for more, and we should look into further opportunities. From my contacts with Austrian companies, I know that there is interest in doing more and investing in the long term, be that in the service sector and in the field of production and infrastructure. We also have a lot to offer in the energy sector, as well as with the environment. Have the EU accessions of Serbia and other Western Balkan countries been temporarily removed from the agenda as a result of internal happenings within the EU?

As a neutral country, Austria has always been a bridge-builder between East and West, and a place for dialogue. What we need is a more united and less divided Europe, with less tensions between the North and the South, or the West and the East Certainly not, and I’m not sure how you could possibly draw such a conclusion.

On the contrary, during the Bulgarian and Austrian presidencies of 2018, the EU enlargement process was placed at the top of the agenda, as exemplified by the

informal EU summit in Sofia that clearly reaffirmed the region’s membership perspective. The Commission issued a comprehensive strategy a year ago and in June 2018 EU Heads of State and Government reaffirmed their commitment to enlargement, which remains a key policy of the European Union.

During our presidency, two new negotiating chapters were opened with Serbia and one with Montenegro. EU enlargement will continue to be a key foreign policy priority for my government, because the EU perspective of the Western Balkans is of crucial importance to the stability of the entire region, and is therefore in the EU’s core interests. The European Union will only be complete when the countries of the Western Balkans have joined. How have you interpreted French President Emmanuel Macron’s platform for EU Reform?

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Interview Exclusive migrant crisis?

As a neutral country, Austria has always been a bridge-builder between East and West, and a place for dialogue. What we need is a more united and less divided Europe, with less tensions between the North and the South, or the West and the East. How would you explain the strengthening of populism and right-wing parties within the EU?

Politicians have to do what they think is right, not what is popular. This is what I’ve been doing so far. And it was not always popular, as in 2015 when I was opposed to the so-called “Willkommenskultur”. Citizens in Europe have reason to be worried about the migrant crisis, for example, and we – as politicians – have to take their concerns seriously and address them by providing solutions, such as regarding the uncontrolled migration to Europe that was evident in 2015. How do you see the future of the EU?

Citizens in Europe have reason to be worried about the migrant crisis, for example, and we – as politicians – have to take their concerns seriously and address them by providing solutions, such as regarding the uncontrolled migration to Europe that was evident in 2015 I very much welcome that we again have a European debate after President Macron’s proposals on the future of Europe. That is the essence. I agree with some of his propos-

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als, such as the protection of our external borders, the focus on innovation, the fight against hate speech and anti-Semitism on the internet and a new partnership with Africa. On other issues, I am more aligned with the head of Germany’s CDU, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, in particular with regard to French plans for a European social union. The introduction of a Europe-wide minimum-wage quite honestly seems unrealistic to me, given the different wage levels within the European Union. Europe instead needs to focus more on how to foster innovation and become more competitive again, in order to secure our high living standards. Could there be a division of the EU between the countries around France and Germany and those of the so-called Eastern Bloc, which you’ve been supporting on the issue of the

I think a lot of change is necessary in the European Union, but I’m pro-European, so I support those wanting to strengthen the Union.

We must, first and foremost, address our most urgent problems, such as addressing the migrant crisis by protecting our external borders and providing aid in the countries of origin. By solving our problems, we can clearly show the value added to our citizens by the EU. If we want to be strong as Europe, we need to be united and more focused on the big issues, such as security, foreign policy or the single market. In my view, this means that we should continue resolutely with that which Jean-Claude Juncker committed to doing at the start of his presidency and has attempted to put into practise in recent years: creating a Europe of subsidiarity, focused more on major issues where common answers are needed, and at the same time allowing the European Union to step back on issues where regions or member states can make their own decisions. I believe that it is only when we really live by the principle of subsidiarity that the diversity that we know and value in the European Union will continue to remain our strength.

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Feature MATTHEW PALMER

Photo: Foto Fena

DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY AT THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE - BUREAU OF EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN AFFAIRS

We Don’t Offer Ready-Made Solutions The [normalisation] process and agreement itself should be locally-owned; only in this way can it be implemented durably in both Kosovo and Serbia. We encourage the parties to demonstrate their full ownership of the process, reduce negative rhetoric, and work together constructively toward an agreement – Matthew Palmer

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A

s someone who is very familiar with the situation in the region, Matthew Palmer believes that it’s high time for agreement to be reached between Belgrade and Priština, while he reminds us of the message of U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting that negotiators should use this “historic opportunity” too reach agreement.

CorD Magazine’s interlocutor also confirms that, for the United States of America, Kosovo is an independent state. Efforts to safeguard the future of Kosovo have been exerted by “thousands of U.S. diplomats and soldiers”, as was written in a kind of protest letter to the Priština authorities that was co-authored by Palmer and sent in

response to Kosovo’s decision to introduce import taxes on goods entering Kosovo from central Serbia. In this interview for CorD Magazine, Palmer calls on both sides to avoid steps that make compromise more difficult.

Mr Palmer, could you shed light on the current position and role of the United States in the dialogue on the normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Priština?

Although the United States is not a party to the negotiations, we strongly support the EU-facilitated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. Normalisation is essential to both countries’ European aspirations. Kosovo and Serbia should reach an agreement that is implementable, durable and does not create instability in either country or the region. We will seriously consider any agreement that meets these conditions.

Would you agree with the statement that “the United States, like no one else, should not dictate how that [the solution to the Kosovo problem] should look”?

Just as I said when I visited Belgrade in October, the United States does not, and will not, prescribe what the solution should look like. The process and agreement itself should be locally-owned; only in this way can it be implemented durably in both Kosovo and Serbia. We encourage the parties to demonstrate their full ownership of the process, reduce negative rhetoric, and work together constructively toward an agreement. Serbia and Kosovo are inextricably linked. Neither side will be able to move forward without a comprehensive normalisation agreement.

We cannot want it more than they do. The United States is ready to help in any way possible, but it is up to leaders on both sides to find a way back to the negotiating table and seize what President Trump has called an “historic opportunity.”

The media attributed to you the co-authorship of a letter sent on behalf of the United States to the Kosovo Albanians in which disagreement is expressed with the policy of sharpening relations with Belgrade by introducing taxes on goods from Serbia. That letter also contains a reminder that “Kosovo’s struggle for freedom won over the imagination of Americans” and that “thousands

of U.S. diplomats and soldiers were personally involved in efforts to build a future for Kosovo”.

President Donald Trump has also written about the U.S.’s great investment in Kosovo’s independence. Can the U.S., under such conditions, be an objective aid in finding the best solution for relations between Serbs and Albanians?

The United States remains committed to Kosovo’s independence and sovereignty, and to partnering with Kosovo and Serbia

a comprehensive normalisation of relations centred on mutual recognition. We don’t take sides or offer ready-made solutions.

The EU is the facilitator of the Dialogue, and we stand ready to be helpful in that process.

President Trump has written that it would be extremely regrettable to miss this unique opportunity for peace, security and economic growth. Both countries will benefit from an agreement, and both countries stand to

MATTHEW PALMER AND PRESIDENT ALEKSANDAR VUČIĆ

The United States remains committed to Kosovo’s independence and sovereignty, and to partnering with Kosovo and Serbia where our goals align.

We see Serbia and Kosovo as two sovereign nations who can and should make decisions in their own best interest where our goals align. We see Serbia and Kosovo as two sovereign nations who can and should make decisions in their own best interest. We believe the interests of both countries are best served through a bilateral agreement that would provide for

lose if no deal is reached. A frozen conflict would undermine our shared goal of a stable, secure and prosperous Western Balkans.

How would you comment on the fact that, even after multiple requests from the United States, the government in Priština hasn’t heeded advice to abolish duties on goods coming from central Serbia?

Belgrade and Priština both need to avoid steps that make compromise more difficult.

We believe these tariffs are counterproductive. Neither side should seek tactical success at the expense of the strategic goal.

Without both parties at the negotiating table, the Dialogue cannot move forward, and neither country can progress on its European path. It is high time for Serbia and Kosovo to take steps to build confidence in the negotiating process, and to work together for a better future for both countries and the region. As we look at next steps, it is essential that Kosovo and Serbia avoid provocations, de-escalate tensions

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Feature and rhetoric, and cooperate on measure that enhance the safety and security of the citizens of both countries.

On what basis do you hope that an agreement between Belgrade and Priština will be reached by the end of the year, as you have announced to the media?

I believe there is a growing realisation that the time is overdue to resolve disputes of the past and to turn to building a better future. The normalisation of relations would open a clear path for both Serbia and Kosovo,

the rhetorical question, “What is the alternative to negotiations?” I completely agree.

You have amassed diplomatic experience in the region over many decades. How would you evaluate the situation in the Western Balkans today; and what do you consider as the biggest challenges?

The Western Balkans faces stark challenges: corruption, weak rule of law, anaemic economic growth, violent extremism, ethnic tensions and threats to democratic norms. I am optimistic that these problems

MATHEW PALMER WITH ANA BRNABIC

as they work towards membership in the European Union. I reject the idea that the future of the Balkan Peninsula is defined by its past century of conflict. The people of Serbia and Kosovo, and the wider Balkan region, deserve the same stable, peaceful future as Germany, France, Portugal or any other European nation.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Rambouillet Conference. Do you consider that the issue of relations between Belgrade and Priština could be resolved at some similar international conference?

As I said, this must be a locally-owned process if the agreement is to endure. The so-called Great Powers are not going to swoop in and resolve this issue for them.

Belgrade and Priština have the ability to find a solution. President Vučić recently posed

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Any rhetoric that creates or perpetuates divisions is unwelcome and selfdefeating. Rather, we encourage constructive cooperation among all in the region. The United States strongly supports the EU integration goals of the entire Western Balkans, as well as NATO membership for all who aspire to join the Alliance

can be resolved if addressed properly and cooperatively. Just look at the example of North Macedonia and Greece – two countries with long-standing differences that came together on an agreement that allows them both to move forward. Meanwhile, external, malign actors, including Russia, work to perpetuate divisions in the region – divisions that run at cross-purposes to the goals and objectives that the countries of the region have set for themselves.

In the context of regional cooperation, how do you see the invitation of current Kosovo Assembly Chairman Kadri Veseli for Montenegro and North Macedonia to form an alliance against Serbia?

Any rhetoric that creates or perpetuates divisions is unwelcome and self-defeating.

Rather, we encourage constructive cooperation among all in the region. The United States strongly supports the EU integration goals of the entire Western Balkans, as well as NATO membership for all who aspire to join the Alliance. A prosperous and peaceful Balkans fully integrated into the Western community of nations is our vision for the region.

Given that one of your professional tasks in the region is to work towards the integration of countries that are not yet members of “Euro-Atlantic structures”, do you consider that insisting on speeding up the issue of B-H’s membership in NATO, which is opposed by the Republika Srpska entity, could prove to be an additional cause of misunderstanding between that country’s two entities?

Pursuing membership is a sovereign choice. Nobody is pushing Bosnia and Herzegovina to join NATO. Nobody is pushing Serbia to join NATO. Nobody is pushing anyone to join NATO. NATO promotes democratic values, ensures collective security and enables members to cooperate on defence.

Common values are the foundation of NATO -- democracy, individual liberty, the rule of law. Bosnia and Herzegovina, like any other country, will always be in complete control of its NATO policy. The 2018 Foreign Policy Strategy of Bosnia and Herzegovina – approved by all three members of the Presidency – clearly articulated the goal of greater partnership and cooperation with NATO, because of the benefits.

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Interview H.E. CHOE HYOUNG CHAN

KOREAN AMBASSADOR TO SERBIA The historic renewal of dialogue between North and South Korea, with the international community engaged in the establishing of new relations with North Korea, represents a process that will have its ups and downs, but which, if successful, will restore peace on the Korean Peninsula, assesses the new Ambassador of Korea to Serbia in this interview for CorD Magazine.

While he monitors events unfolding in his own country closely, Ambassador Choe Hyoung Chan is also finalising preparations to celebrate three decades of diplomatic relations with Serbia.

Although he admits that the peoples of Korea and Serbia know little about each other, the ambassador notes some similarities between the two nations, both geopolitically and economically. Both of them, as he says, are located on peninsulas that have seen off many conquerors, both have survived devastating wars and been confronted with the need to rebuild national economies from ruins.

Good bilateral relations create opportunities for new Korean investments, but also bring offers for Korea to share with Serbia the experiences and knowhow that led to an extraordinary economic transformation of that country, which today has one of the world’s most developed economies.

Complete Denuclearisation

For Peace On The Korean Peninsula

No more provocative testing of missiles or nuclear weapons by North Korea and a level of continued cooperation between the South and North are the top outcomes evolving ever since last year’s inter-Korean summits – Ambassador Choe Hyoung Chan 20

April

TALKS

The Korean government will again play an active role in resuming talks between North Korea and the U.S. as early as possible

How would you assess the results of the meeting in Hanoi between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un?

It is regrettable that the second summit between the U.S. President and the North Korean Leader could not produce a complete agreement. One of the key issues, as reported, was to narrow the gap of perceptions of the two parties on how to balance denuclearisation measures against corresponding measures, including lifting sanctions.

No deal was struck this time, but it seems that meaningful progress was made on enhanced mutual understanding and confidence between President Trump and Chairman Kim. Continuing their dialogue is critical, because there is no better option than diplomatic negotiations.

President Moon Jae-in has pledged tthat he South Korean Government will closely communicate and cooperate with North Korea and the United States to help their talks reach a complete settlement.

COOPERATION

Korean investors in Serbia will gather on a regular basis to share information and discuss further cooperation

INVESTMENTS

Korea deeply sympathises with Serbia’s strategy to achieve economic development through the attracting of more foreign direct investments from the world

dialogue and pursue negotiations with patience, perseverance and good faith. What effects are we seeing today from last year’s historic meetings between the leaders of the respective Korean states, Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un?

No more provocative testing of missiles or nuclear weapons by North Korea and a level of continued cooperation between the South and North are the top outcomes evolving ever since last year’s interKorean summits. In particular, at the Pyongyang

summit last September, the two Koreas agreed to completely cease all hostile acts against each other and to advance inter-Korean cooperation in such areas as rail and road connections, a joint special economic zone and tourism. An aspiration of the South Korean government is to secure a virtuous cycle between denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and the advancement of inter-Korean relations.

We look forward to the continued support of the international community in consolidating a permanent peace regime, as well as the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

What do discussions between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un mean for the stability of the Korean Peninsula?

Last year’s diplomatic efforts, starting with North Korea’s participation in the Pyeong-Chang Winter Olympics and leading to inter-Korean summits and the first ever U.S.-DPRK summit in Singapore, have all contributed to maintaining security and stability on the Korean Peninsula. And it was the determination of the leaders of the two Koreas and the United States that made the political context on and around the Korean Peninsula to shift from tension and stand-off to peace and dialogue.

The Korean government will again play an active role in resuming talks between North Korea and the U.S. as early as possible.

Complete denuclearisation is a commitment stated very clearly by North Korea in the outcomes of the inter-Korean and U.S.-North Korea summit, but it is also clear that complete denuclearisation cannot be achieved through one or two meetings.

So, it is vital to sustain the current momentum for

We look forward to the continued support of the international community in consolidating a permanent peace regime, as well as the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula

You arrived in Belgrade late last year. What would you say about the beginning of your residence in Serbia?

I arrived in Belgrade last November and presented my letter of credence to President Vučić in just two weeks. Since then I’ve been meeting with the Prime Minister, ministers, the Speaker of the Assembly and mayors as often as possible, in order to get acquainted with the political system, the way of working and thinking in the government and, more importantly, to explore areas of further cooperation.

Even though Korea and Serbia are geographi-

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Interview cally far away from each other, and the people of the two countries have lived in quite different cultures and don’t know a lot about each other, I feel that we also have something in common. Being friendly to a foreigner is just one of the virtues we share, and I am the beneficiary of this great hospitality extended not only from the government officials with whom I frequently meet, but also from ordinary Serbian people I’ve encountered for the first time on the streets.

and, third, broadening cultural exchanges.

Starting with the visit of the Chairperson of the Korean Fair Trade Commission in March, we will exert our utmost efforts to increase high level government and national assembly visits.

Recently, economic cooperation between the two countries is showing a significant upward trend. In addition to the opening of a new factory of Superior Essex in Zrenjanin and the 5th factory of Yura in Leskovac last year, an increasing number

which will include a performance by the Korean National Dance Team (22nd April, Sava Centre); K-pop Festival; Korean Movie Week and so on. When presenting your credentials for accreditation to the President of Serbia, you agreed that political dialogue should be intensified. How do you intend to contribute to that aim?

High-level political dialogue is one of the most effective ways to strengthen momentum for cooperation between the two countries. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary, one of the priorities is to hold the Korea-Serbia Policy Consultation, which has not been held for the last two years due to several circumstances. The policy consultation would cover a wide range of bilateral issues, from politics and economics to culture and people-topeople exchanges. You stated upon arrival in Serbia that you consider the enticing of Korean investors as one of your priorities. Do you already have some potential investors in mind?

The geopolitical positioning of the locations of the two countries placed us in situations where we constantly had to suffer invasions from outside throughout history. Both the Korean and Balkan peninsulas went through regional division and colonisation for a long time. I believe that we have much to learn from each other’s histories, rich experiences and great efforts to bring regional peace and stability. Serbia and Korea mark the important anniversary of 30 years of diplomatic relations during your term. Are you planning something special to commemorate this occasion?

Since 1989, we have witnessed remarkable developments in our bilateral relations. Based on our achievements, the year 2019, which marks the 30th anniversary, will be a landmark year in our journey towards future partnership. Three main points that I would like to focus on are, first, increasing high-level visits; second, strengthening economic partnership;

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Both the Korean and Balkan peninsulas went through regional division and colonisation for a long time of Korean companies are considering Serbia as their new investment destination. In line with such developments, Korean investors in Serbia will gather on a regular basis to share information and discuss further cooperation.

Culture is the area where we have seen the most dynamic successes over recent years. Since 2017, the Embassy has organised month-long Days of Korean Culture festivals. This year, the Embassy will host a year-long cultural programme, starting from March, to celebrate the anniversary,

Upon taking this office, I could feel both expectation and confidence in Korean investors through several meetings with Serbian officials, including President Vučić. As Korean Ambassador to Serbia, I will endeavour to provide support to Korean investors when they come to Serbia to launch their new investments. At the same time, the further establishment of an institutional framework, such as a bilateral investment treaty, is high on my agenda. Korean companies in many different fields – from producing gloves for industrial use, interior items for vehicles and shoes, to industrial waste management – are now considering Serbia as one of the most promising destinations to start doing business. Korean investments in Serbia began with the arrival of the Yura, which manufactures cables for motor vehicles, while late last year saw the opening of the factory of company Essex Europe, which will produce enamelled/ magnet wiring. Do you consider that Serbia has the labour potential and knowhow to also entice investments from companies dealing with technologies, such as Samsung, for example?

A high quality labour force, strong support and incentives from the Serbian government, a wide

FTA network encompassing the EU, Russia and Turkey, as well as a location at the hub for transportation in the Balkans, are the main reasons why Korean companies are attracted to Serbia. In particular, many Korean investors who’ve visited Serbia were impressed by the competitiveness and work ethic of the labour force. If consistent efforts of the Serbian government to reform are combined with a capable labour force, their potential will exceed everyone’s expectation.

What we also need to take note of is that, among the Korean companies operating in Serbia, many companies are closely related to vehicle production. In fact, they export most of their products to Hyundai and KIA factories in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Serbia has the potential to attract more vehicle related industries to its country. However, at this moment the Embassy has no information about Hyundai’s exploration for investment in the region.

Korean auto company Hyundai is considering opening a production plant in the region, with Croatia mentioned as a possible location.

Given that Serbia has a tradition of vehicle manufacturing, could it also be interesting to investors from this sector?

You’ve offered to share with Serbia your experiences of economic recovery and progress, which was achieved in Korea in record time and for which the country is renowned. What would you first advise to your interlocutors in Serbia?

In addition to Yura and Superior Essex, it is an evident trend that Korean companies are turning their heads towards Serbia, which possesses great potential to be a production base for reaching out to the EU market.

Korea deeply sympathises with Serbia’s strategy to achieve economic development through the attracting of more foreign direct investments from the world. At the same time, I believe it is crucial to continue investing in research and

development (R&D), which can provide a firm base for the country’s own manufacturing industry.

Korea achieved astonishing economic development in a rather short period of time, emerging from the ashes of the Korean War. In the late 1990s, we suffered a severe financial crisis. It was a great challenge for our entire nation to overcome these crises; yet, at the same time, it enabled the Korean government to build a sound economic structure through relentless reforms. In order to support Serbia’s successful development, the Korean Embassy has been organising economic seminars in various fields, such as IT Start-ups and competition law. In March, the Korea Fair Trade Commission and the Serbian Commission for the Protection of Competition held a very successful workshop on competition policy, which we believe will prove helpful for Serbia in advancing towards EU accession. We are also planning to hold a seminar to share our own experiences in the course of economic development during the second half of this year.

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GLOBAL DIARY

Danger

“Never since the Second World War has Europe been so necessary. And yet never has Europe been in such danger”.

– EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT

‘#1 OF 5 MILLION’ PROTESTS RADICALISED

EUROPEAN COMPETITION COMMISSIONER MARGRETHE VESTAGER

EUROPEAN WATCHDOG FINES GOOGLE €1.5 BLN

Protests that began in December last year, among citizens and part of the political opposition against President Aleksandar Vučić and the Serbian government were radicalised in mid-March when a group of protesters – led by some opposition leaders – entered the premises of national broadcaster Radio-Television Serbia (RTS) to demand that they be permitted to address Serbian citizens directly in a broadcast. The RTS editorial board rejected the protestors’ request, with police stepping in to move protesters away from RTS’s premises. The next day saw a section of protesters surround the building of the Serbian Presidency in an attempt to address President Vučić followers his statement to the public. Apart from Belgrade, these protests, dubbed ‘#1 of 5 million’, have taken place in Novi Sad, Niš, Kragujevac and more than 50 towns across Serbia.

Marko Đurica/Reuters

The European Union on March 20 slapped a fine of €1.49 billion on Alphabet’s Google for breaching its antitrust rules, citing “abusive practices in online advertising.” It said Alphabet Google abused the dominance of its search engine to block rivals from selling text ads on the search results that appear on third-party sites.

It was the third fine and latest charge that the Commission has brought against the Silicon Valley giant.

“The Commission has fined Google €1.49 billion for illegal misuse of its dominant position in the market for the brokering of online search adverts,” said EU commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who is in charge of competition policy. “Google has cemented its dominance in online search adverts and shielded itself from competitive pressure by imposing anticompetitive contractual restrictions on third-party websites. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules.”

THE WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE CITIES FOR 2019 According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) latest Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, Singapore, Paris and Hong Kong have one thing in common: they are officially the world’s most expensive cities. It is the first time in the index’s history that three cities have shared the top spot. The survey’s editor, Roxana Slavcheva, claimed converging prices were “a testament to globalisation and the similarity of tastes and shopping patterns” in those destinations. Here is the list of the most expensive cities in the world: 1. Singapore, Singapore; 2. Paris, France; 3. Hong Kong, China; 4.

Zurich, Switzerland; 5. Geneva, Switzerland; 5. Osaka, Japan; 7. Seoul, South Korea; 7.

Copenhagen, Denmark; 7. New York, US; 10. Tel Aviv, Israel; 10. Los Angeles, US.

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Cooperation

The UK would always be included in our thinking, whether inside or outside the EU. The door to closer cooperation is wide open”. – ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR

THERESA MAY AND EU AGREE BREXIT DELAY

STRUMICA CARNIVAL The Strumica Carnival is first mentioned in 1670. This Carnival is held every year at the beginning of the Great Lent, an Eastern Orthodox Lenten period similar to the Roman church’s calendar about one month earlier. The three days which are called the “trimer days” always begin on the Sunday night at Procka (Forgiveness Sunday) and last until the following Wednesday.

On Tuesday night, the Carnival takes place- masked groups of people stroll throughout the city, with men visiting homes of their fiancees and staying there until the early morning hours.

The celebration continues with love songs and lyrics complemented with traditional musical instruments.

The European Council (EC) takes note of the letter of Prime Minister Theresa May of 20 March 2019.

In response, the EC approves the Instrument relating to the Withdrawal Agreement and the Joint Statement supplementing the Political Declaration agreed between the EC and the government of the UK Strasbourg on 11 March 2019. The EC agrees to an extension until 22 May 2019, provided the Withdrawal Agreement is approved by the House of Commons by the end of March. If the Withdrawal Agreement is not approved, the EC agrees to an extension until 12 April 2019 and expects the UK to indicate a way forward before this date for consideration by the EC.

CYCLONE IDAI HITS MOZAMBIQUE The death toll from a cyclone that smashed into Mozambique and Zimbabwe rose to more than 500 as rescuers raced against the clock to help survivors and the UN led the charge to provide aid.

“We already have almost 500 dead, and nearly 350,000 people are at risk,” Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi announced, while the government in Zimbabwe said around 100 people had died but the toll could be triple that figure. The UN, meanwhile, said that one of the worst storms to hit southern Africa in decades had also unleashed a humanitarian crisis in Malawi, affecting nearly a million people and forcing more than 80,000 from their homes. Four days after Tropical Cyclone Idai made landfall, emergency teams in central Mozambique fanned out in boats and helicopters, seeking to pluck survivors from roofs and treetops in an inland sea of floodwater, sometimes in the dead of night.

TWENTY YEARS SINCE THE BOMBING OF SERBIA The 20th anniversary of the launch of the one-sided U.S. and NATO war against Yugoslavia on 24th March, which saw bombing nationwide across Serbia and Montenegro for 78 straight days. Factories, schools and hospitals were destroyed, along with bridges, roads and the electricity grid in a bid to bomb the Serbian population into submitting to U.S. and Western European allies.

The airstrikes killed around 2,500 people and wounded another 12,500, according to Serbian estimates.

One NATO airstrike used laser-guided missiles to take out a railway bridge in southern Serbia, killing at least 10 people on a train. Another slaughtered 21 in a nursing home, while the strike on broadcaster RTS in Belgrade took the lives of 16 civilian workers…

ST. PATRICK DAY FESTIVAL The principal aim of St. Patrick’s day, since its inauguration, is to develop a major annual international festival around the national holiday over which the ‘owners’ of the festival, the Irish people, would stand proud. It sets out to reflect the talents and achievements of Irish people on many national and world stages, and it acts as an exciting showcase for the manifold skills of the people of Ireland, of every age and social background.

As the one national holiday that is celebrated in more countries around the world than any other, St. Patrick’s Day is the day when everyone wants to be Irish.

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Focus

Health Insurance

Do We Have

The Right Medicines?

Every time we hear that patients in the region have access to much more advanced medicines than us, despite paying the same or less than us for healthcare, we wonder what’s wrong with our system. The answer is a complex one

ANA GOVEDARICA

GENERAL MANAGER, ROCHE SERBIA

MONEY IS JUST HALF THE STORY We asked our respondents, among them leading practitioners and managers of health institutions and pharmaceutical companies, where Serbian health insurance stands today, in relation to the EU and the countries of the region, when it comes to the procurement of adequate and modern medicines to treat serious illness.

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THOUGH SOME SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS WERE MADE OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS, SERBIA STILL LAGS BEHIND BOTH EU AND NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES. HOWEVER, THE OPENNESS OF THE PAYER AND THEIR READINESS TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE INDUSTRY HAS GREATLY INCREASED

Generally speaking, low GDP determines, or specifically limits, the ability of a country to fund its health system, including medicines.

However, it is very indicative that Serbia invests more in its health system as a whole than Bulgaria (€295 vs. €272 per capita) and slightly less than Romania (€295 vs. €328 per capita), but Serbia, on the other hand, has the lowest level of funding for innovative medicines (€59 vs. €83 and €59 vs. €84 respectively). This is just a short monetary illustration of deviations in health system funding that doesn’t favour the availability of modern medicines. As we all know, the timing of availability is as important as the level of funding. In this context, the average time for patient access – equating to the period from drug registration to the granting of reimbursement – is around 900 days in Serbia, whereas the same parameter in Slovenia is 494 days, in Bulgaria 535, in Croatia 479 etc.

The openness of the payer and readiness to negotiate with the industry has increased greatly. This resulted in more than 30 manage entry agreements signed with several payers who are on hold, awaiting the additional budget that’s expected to be granted from the central budget.

It is evident in all EU countries that finances collected from mandatory health contributions are insufficient when it comes to meeting patients’ needs for medicines. Thus, through analogy with essentially all EU countries, where the state intervenes and provides additional funding for innovative drugs, Serbia has to undertake the same – to coordinate state finances with the finances of the Health Insurance Fund in order to compensate for

the shortfall between the level of health contributions collected and real patients’ needs.

New reimbursement models should also be introduced. Manage entry agreements helped in taking a significant step forward, but it is time for new models, such as sharing risk models, which are also well known as pay per performance.

IN LINE WITH ESSENTIALLY ALL EU COUNTRIES, WHERE THE STATE INTERVENES AND PROVIDES ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR INNOVATIVE MEDICINES, SERBIA NEEDS TO UNDERTAKE THE SAME – TO COMPENSATE FOR THE SHORTFALL BETWEEN THE LEVEL OF HEALTH CONTRIBUTIONS COLLECTED AND REAL PATIENTS’ NEEDS Pharmaceuticals companies in Serbia register all innovative medicines they have in their portfolio. The quality of available medicines definitely meets international standards fully, thanks to EU process mirroring by ALIMS, as well as the very stringent policies of all pharma companies present on the local market. Those innovative medicines are manufactured in the same manufacturing plants, using the same quality of starting materials and the same technology as for EU countries.

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KSENIJA PURKOVIĆ COUNTRY DIRECTOR AT ASTRAZENECA, SERBIA

GOOD WILL IS HERE COMPARED TO OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE REGION, SERBIA MANAGED TO INTRODUCE SOME NEW MEDICINES IN THERAPIES IN A TIMELY MANNER, WHILE IT COULD HAVE BEEN QUICKER IN SOME OTHERS. THIS DOESN’T MEAN THAT THE HEALTH INSURANCE FUND OR THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH DON’T HAVE AN EAR FOR PATIENTS’ NEEDS AstraZeneca is among the world’s leading pharmaceuticals manufacturers and research & development companies, with nearly 65,000 employees worldwide. As such, we are improving the lives of millions of patients across the globe, primarily in four main therapy areas – oncology, respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. We have been present in Serbia for nearly two decades, with a relatively modest presence in medications, but we look forward to working more closely with our partners – the Ministry of Health and the Health Insurance Fund – and have more room to contribute to patients’ well-being locally.

COLONEL RANKO RAIČEVIĆ PH.D.

HEAD OF THE NEUROPSYCHIATRIC CLINIC OF THE MILITARY MEDICAL ACADEMY (VMA), PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY OF SERBIAN NEUROLOGISTS

HUGE ADVANCEMENT MADE WITHIN THE SCOPE OF ITS ECONOMIC CAPACITIES, THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA IMPROVES, RESPONSIBLY AND CONTINUOUSLY, THE SCOPE OF TREATMENT AND DIAGNOSTICS OF THE TOUGHEST MEDICAL CONDITIONS AND DISORDERS, AND IN THAT SENSE WE CAN TALK 28

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The Serbian population has relatively good access to innovative medicines, but – given that research in the pharmaceutical sector is quite dynamic and productive in global terms – Serbia and other countries of the region obviously cannot afford to include all products that are available in other more developed and financially potent countries.

To be more precise, compared to other countries of the region, Serbia manages in some therapy areas to introduce new medicines in a timely manner, while in some other areas, such as those that are more narrowly focused, it could have been quicker. This does not mean that the Health Insurance Fund or the Ministry of Health don’t have an ear for patients’ needs, especially nowadays, but rather that some other areas were simply more in focus and within available budgets at the time. In terms of our portfolio, we still haven’t had a chance to

ASTRAZENECA WILL TRY TO BE A CONSTRUCTIVE PARTNER TO THE GOVERNMENT OF SERBIA, AND TO EXERT ADDITIONAL EFFORTS TO MAKE SOME OF OUR FLAGSHIP PRODUCTS AFFORDABLE LOCALLY, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH INSTITUTIONS introduce to patients some of our leading products for the treatment of lung cancer, ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes and acute coronary syndrome. When they become available locally, these products will significantly improve the quality of life of patients and we sincerely hope they will find their way to patients soon.

Nevertheless, we are happy to see the genuine commitment of institutions to improving the situation. Both Serbian Health Minister Zlatibor Lončar and National Health Insurance Fund Director Sanja RadojevićŠkodrić are working hard with their teams to ensure the availability of new innovative medicines to the population, despite limited funding.

This means that manufacturers also need to be open to dialogue with institutions and to help them bridge the financial gaps whenever possible.

ABOUT AN IMPROVED AND MORE CERTAIN PERSPECTIVE FOR THE PERIOD AHEAD At the very start of this conversation, I must note point out that there are many more competent respondents to provide answers to these questions in our country, both in the field of medical workers and, especially, in the Serbian Ministry of Health and RFZO [National Health Insurance Administration]. However, as a doctor, citizen and member of professional expert organisations, I will present my position, first for neurological conditions and diseases, and then my general stance regarding the quality of healthcare.

Thus, as president of the Society of Neurologists of Serbia, I claim responsibly that the neurological service in Serbia ranks among the best European neurological schools in terms of education, competence and monitoring of the latest findings and achievements in both a diagnostic and a therapeutic sense. This is also my impression of the overall medical community in Serbia, which is testified to by the results of the recent ranking of our healthcare system, which has advanced significantly in all segments. Nevertheless, there is awareness in the neurological community of the fact that modern

therapies are not available to all patients, especially when it comes to innovative medicines. This particularly applies to patients with multiple sclerosis. However, as a member of the RFZO Central Committee for Medicines, I have witnessed huge efforts of all structures in the country to improve this situation in the more recent period.

We have already achieved some progress in terms of increasing the number of patients on immunomodulatory therapy, with medicines already registered and approved by the RFZO of the Republic of Serbia. Given that “people are happy to believe in that which they love”, I, as a neurologist, primarily want to see shifts in neurology, and they are already happening, but we must all together – in the medical professions, but also in society as a whole – be aware of the fact that numerous serious illnesses, conditions and disorders exist that also require some new therapy.

With this in mind, last year alone, the Republic of Serbia – with Ministry of Health and RFZO, and on the basis of proposals from the National Commission of Experts, and with the great work of the RFZO Central Commission for Medicines – managed to provide innovative medicines for melanoma, psoriasis, hepatitis C and other diseases, which is a huge advance in the treatment of these patients. Within the framework of its economic capacities, the Republic of Serbia works responsibly and continuously to improve the scope of treatment and diagnostics of the most serious medical conditions and disorders, and in that sense we can talk about a better and more certain perspective for the period ahead.

What can we do that doesn’t just boil down to modern therapies with innovative drugs?

It is very important to have constant awareness and to build empathy and solidarity in our society at all levels, because sick people don’t only have health problems, but also social, economic and personal problems. They don’t only feel muscle weakness, deformities, surgery, high pressure and stomach pains, rather there

SANJA RADOJEVIĆ -ŠKODRIĆ PH.D. DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE FUND

MODERN THERAPIES AVAILABLE TO PATIENTS MANY INNOVATIVE DRUGS WERE INTRODUCED IN THE PREVIOUS PERIOD THAT WILL IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF HEALTH OF THOSE SUFFERING FROM DISEASES. SOME OF THEM AREN’T EVEN AVAILABLE TO PATIENTS IN COUNTRIES THAT ARE RICHER THAN OURS

are many other situations in which they feel unequal and deprived – and whether that’s objective or subjective is not the most important thing. What can we do as a society, as individuals, neighbours, friends, doctors? We can provide them with access to a swimming pool, walking promenade, theatres and their own buildings; ease their search for employment, organise educational actions, interactive workshops, talk, advise, listen, console. These solutions that are seemingly only technical can improve their quality of life significantly, regardless of the type of therapy they receive. We have

INTRODUCING INNOVATIVE DRUGS IS IMPORTANT, BUT IS NOT ENOUGH. IT IS NECESSARY FOR NEUROLOGISTS TO RETURN TO HEALTH CENTRES, AS THIS WILL HAVE FAR-REACHING POSITIVE ONSEQUENCES ON THE QUALITY OF TREATMENT AND SAVINGS IN DIAGNOSTICS AND THE TREATING OF NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES to grow accustomed to thinking differently. Society, and each one of us individually, should endeavour to enable these people (and not only those suffering from neurological diseases) to feel like equal members of society, because we shouldn’t forget that we can all find ourselves “on the other side” at one point.

This doesn’t mean that there’s no need to insist on an even greater degree of availability of innovative therapies, but I will use this opportunity to again emphasise the need to return neurologists to health centres, as that will also have far-reaching positive effects on the quality of treatment and savings in diagnostics and the treatment of neurological diseases and disorders, first and foremost in preventative programmes that are high quality but less expensive.

The shared aim of the Ministry of Health and the National Health Insurance Fund (RFZO) is to provide modern therapy with affordable access to insured people, and to this end we are undertaking activities in order to ensure continuity in the placement of new innovative medicines on the List of Medicines in accordance with professional opinions and available financial resources.

Thus, in mid 2018, a new list of medicines was published that included the addition of new innovative drugs for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, hepatitis C and breast cancer, which represent extremely expensive therapies, but also the latest therapies used in the most developed European countries. By placing on the list two new innovative medicines for the treatment of breast cancer that are used in Europe’s most developed countries (Germany, France, Italy etc.), an enormous advance has been ensured in terms of the treatment of this most common malignant disease among women.

Likewise, the RFZO adopted its List of Medicines at the end of December 2018 which, in accordance with expert opinions and the financial resources available, included the addition of two new innovative medicines for the treatment of psoriasis, which provides access to modern biological therapies at the expense of the RFZO for those afflicted with this disease. Moreover, for those suffering with metastatic melanoma, a new therapeutic option has been provided because the group of immunotherapy options contained on the List for the treatment of BRAF negative metastatic melanoma

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has been extended to indicators for the treatment of BRAF positive metastatic melanoma.

It is emphasised that providing innovative therapy, coupled with the sustainability of healthcare financing, is a global challenge that’s also being faced by much richer countries.

Thus, in terms of the use of medicines from List C of the List of Medicines, which lists the most expensive innovative medicines for treating the most serious diseases, the resources of the RFZO to compensate for these medicines has increased by about four billion dinars over the past five years. Specifically, RFZO funding available in 2014 for medicines contained on List C List of Medicines amounted to around 5.67 billion dinars, while RFZO funding for these same drugs in 2018 amounted to about 9.7 billion dinars. It is notable that there is an enduring growth tendency in terms of the number of patients being treated with these medicines (both among newly diagnosed patients and those who were previously diagnosed and are being treated with specific medicines for the first time), and the financial effects represent the result of treatments of a larger number of insured persons, as well as the effect of adding new original/innovative medicines to the List of Medicines.

The List of Medicines that are prescribed and issued at the expense of compulsory health insurance is being extended with medicines that have received permission to be placed on the market by the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices of Serbia, with which the quality, efficiency and safety of those medicines has been confirmed.

Apart from innovative medicines for the treatment of serious

DR ZSOFIA PUSZTAI WHO REPRESENTATIVE IN SERBIA

THE RIGHT CHOICE IS NOT JUST ABOUT NOVELTY CHOICES OF MEDICINES SHOULD BE BASED ON EFFECTIVENESS AND NOT JUST NEWNESS, INNOVATION OR THEM BEING ‘MODERN’ We would like to refer to the WHO’s normative role in this area, along with our guidance to countries in implementing international standards. Regarding the selection of medicines by the Health Insurance Fund, the WHO supports a transparent process using defined criteria and guidance to help make decisions regarding which medicines

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diseases that are contained on the List of Medicines, innovative medicines for the treatment of rare diseases – in accordance with the conclusion of the Government of Serbia, are also secured with funds from the budget allocated for the treatment of rare diseases.

Funds allocated from the budget for the treatment of rare diseases are increased annually. Thus, in 2012 these funds amounted to 130 million dinars, while in 2019 they amount to two billion dinars.

Thanks to this, the number of patients being treated with funds from the budget has increased approximately 25-fold over the last

FUNDS ALLOCATED FROM THE BUDGET FOR THE TREATMENT OF RARE DISEASES ARE INCREASED ANNUALLY. THUS, IN 2012 THESE FUNDS AMOUNTED TO 130 MILLION DINARS, WHILE IN 2019 THEY AMOUNT TO TWO BILLION DINARS six years (as the number of rare diseases treated with budget funds has increased from 2 to 19 different types of rare diseases that are among the group of congenital metabolic diseases, rare tumours, hereditary angioedema, pulmonary arterial hypertension and spinal muscle atrophy. When it comes to the treating of rare diseases in Serbia compared to other countries of the region and Europe, certain rare diseases that aren’t treated in much richer countries can be treated in Serbia, or many more patients are being treated for individual rare diseases in Serbia.

to reimburse. The choice of medicines will also depend on the scope of the reimbursement programme.

Selection should be based on the careful assessment of benefits and harms, availability of alternative treatments, cost of treatment for one patient, budget impact to the healthcare system to ensure the best use of limited healthcare resources. Choices are based on effectiveness and not just newness, innovation or them being ‘modern’.

THE SERBIAN NRA HAS RECENTLY CARRIED OUT A SELF-ASSESSMENT OF ITS FUNCTIONS USING THE WHO BENCHMARKING TOOL, WHILE WHO BENCHMARKING FOR VACCINES HAS ALSO TAKEN PLACE AND MORE INFORMATION WILL SOON BE AVAILABLE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN The function of the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) is to ensure that medicines on the markets and in circulation at the national level are of the required quality, safety and efficacy, and the WHO Regional Office for Europe has no data to suggest that there are any general issues in Serbia. The WHO develops international norms and standards, so that countries are able to regulate health products and technologies consistently worldwide. In parallel, the WHO facilitates access to quality-assured, safe and effective health products by assessing medicines, vaccines and medical devices for priority diseases. The WHO also aids countries in strengthening regulations, including post-marketing surveillance, and in eliminating substandard and falsified medicines.

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32nd Belgrade Marathon DEJAN NIKOLIĆ

BELGRADE MARATHON DIRECTOR

As in each of the previous 31 years, the build up to this year’s 32nd Belgrade Marathon again sees its director, Dejan Nikolić, and all of his colleagues overwhelmed by obligations that they overcome one after another, but this time they’re also receiving invaluable international acknowledgements one after another

Year Of Recognition

And Obligation Last November’s Best Marathon Runner Award Gala in Athens saw five marathon Oscars awarded for 2018. The Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) awarded the best men’s and women’s marathon runners and announced the winners of lifetime achievement awards.

In accordance with stringent criteria and UN Sustainable Development Goals aimed at eliminating obstacles to every person in the world having equal living conditions, the Belgrade Marathon received the AIMS Social Award in the birthplace of the marathon.

“This relates to people with disabilities, and we have been particularly prominent on that front in the

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last few years, although we were surprised when we realised how much our work in that area was being followed, in cooperation with institutions such as the Commissioner for the Protection of the Equality of Citizens and the Sporting Association of Disabled People of Belgrade,” says Belgrade Marathon Director Dejan Nikolić. In the jury’s explanation, the project “Heroes of the Belgrade Marathon” stood out...

Yes, it was particularly well received, because “Heroes of the Belgrade Marathon” are not runners who beat others, but people who beat themselves, and who send strong messages not only to other runners, but also to the general public. CorD

Magazine recognised the importance of these aspects of the Marathon and helped us promote this campaign, so I can say with satisfaction that the thirteen years of successful cooperation between the Belgrade Marathon and CorD Magazine in the organisation of the CorD Charity Masters contributed to us winning this “Marathon Oscar”. This “Oscar”, or the AIMS Social Award, is not the only award to arrive at the address of the Belgrade Marathon.

Without false modesty, we can boast that, after 31 years of organising the Belgrade Marathon, we received the two biggest and most important awards that a marathon of our category can receive. This “Oscar” is one of two awards that can be received from AIMS, the other being the Green Award, bestowed in the field of environmental protection. We received this second recognition from the World Marathon Majors, the association of the world’s six biggest marathons (Boston, New York, Chicago, London, Berlin and Tokyo). The World Marathon Majors is expected to continue to expand with the aim of creating a marathon grand slam tournament. One thread that connects these marathons is that it’s practically almost impossible to get a starting number to participate in them. They turn down an average of between 250,000 and 400,000 interested runners every year,” says Nikolić. What do these acknowledgements bring?

The World Marathon Majors, now under the patronage of company Abbott, as the title sponsor of the series, having been unable to accept more runners than at present, sought and found a backdoor to securing entry into one of the grand slam marathons for the runners on which the marathon movement depends. These are veteran categories, which include competing runners aged over 40, people who travel the world and run, and the backdoor is the World Championships for Veteran Categories, which – as of 2020 – will be held each year at one of the six major marathons in rotation. The inaugural World Championships for nine categories of men’s and women’s veterans will be held next year at the 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon, and veterans wanting to participate will receive starting numbers provided they fulfil the specified qualification standards. They will be able to fulfil those standards by competing in marathons

that have signed contracts with World Marathon Majors to become qualifying races. We expect the Belgrade Marathon to become a qualifying race in 2020. In order for us to have the time to prepare well and satisfy all the necessary criteria, in 2020, at the 33rd Belgrade Marathon, runners will be able to fulfil the standards to qualify for the World Championships, which will most likely take place at the Chicago Marathon. This is an additional challenge for us, but also for the City of Belgrade, to organise this marathon, and especially the 2020 marathon, to the very best of our ability. Otherwise, the full name of these world championships held under the auspices of the world’s largest marathons is the Abbott World Marathon Majors Wanda Age Group World Championship race. I would say that the selection of the Belgrade Marathon is proof of our quality. Someone in the world recognised that the Belgrade Marathon could be qualification event for this world championship, and that people in these categories can rely on Belgrade.

After all, runners in the Belgrade Marathon can also fulfil the standards required to qualify for the Olympic Games.

You offer participants something new each year. In short, what can they expect at the 32nd Belgrade Marathon on 14th April?

We will have a special, humanitarian platform called the Race of Goodness for the first time.

It has already been completed, and we worked with the Coalition For Welfare [Koalicija Za dobročinstvo]. This new platform, the first of its kind in the region, brings a higher level – everyone who “enters” the Race of Goodness will receive information about all the humanitarian

absolute hit on Ada Bridge last year. Apart from music, we’ll offer other forms of entertainment, so for participants we’ll create the first music map of the Belgrade Marathon, so that runners will know who’s waiting from them where... How is it possible that, despite all of this, the Belgrade Marathon is still obstructed by the Athletic Association of Serbia?

Unfortunately, the Athletic Association of Serbia, which has been announcing its own race for a

We’ve heard that this “sign of quality” is already having an impact.

As soon as we published this news, we were contacted from Italy by Terramia, one of the world’s biggest travel agencies, which saw a meeting in June to prepare tourist packages and announced that we will be on their list for 2020. They are the agency that has the most “bibs”, or starting numbers, for marathons from the World Marathon Majors series, and that tells us that we have to start working immediately in order for the 2020 event to be at the required level. We consider this as a benchmark moment for the Belgrade Marathon, regardless of all the difficulties and problems we’ve had and continue to have. We have reached a situation where the Belgrade Marathon must plan at least five to 10 years in advance. In the past year, we’ve signed a contract with a partner from China, the world’s largest in terms of this type of activity, which will – following a recent presentation in Shenzhen – bring a group of at least 50 runners from China to the 32nd Belgrade Marathon. This is at the level of the Prague Marathon project, which had around the same number of runners from China in the first year, then 400, 800, and by the fourth year 1,500 participants from China.

The Belgrade Marathon will have over a million participants in all races this year, including our marathons, half marathons etc campaigns we support, with descriptions of them and instructions on how to get involved. Each participant/donor will be recorded and it will be known how much money is collected and how much more money the campaign donated to requires. In the future, as has also been the case to date money does not go onto our account, so the slogan of this year’s marathon is “Run, enjoy and help someone”.

When it comes to “enjoying”, last year we had 20 music stations along the course, and this year there’ll be about 30! Of course, along with the Belgrade Philharmonic, which proved an

year and a half that has yet to be staged, has been, and remains, an unfair competitor of the Belgrade Marathon, in the most serious sense of those words. The Belgrade Marathon is an event with a 31-year tradition that has struggled with and overcome many obstacles to become a symbol of Belgrade and an event of special importance to Belgrade, the largest traditional mass sporting event in Belgrade and Serbia, and then many things were brought into question in just a few months by the leaders of the AAS. They announced the first real marathon, the world’s biggest spectacle, the world’s fastest marathon runners, the world’s fastest marathon, they said that they would run on an incredibly flat course (?), and none of that has happened.

Then instead of a marathon they announced a marathon series, but only races over five and 10 km were held. Instead of a spectacular event, they got a spectacular failure. That’s not good for marathon running, for athletics, and least of all for Belgrade. The Belgrade Marathon will have over a million participants in all races this year, including our marathons, half marathons etc.

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Giuseppe Conte, Italian Prime Minister

Sincere Friendship

Binds Our Peoples

GIUSEPPE CONTE AND ALEKSANDAR VUČIĆ

With this mission I wanted to confirm the priority attention that Italy reserves to Serbia and also the importance of the stability of the European perspective for the entire Balkan region: the sincere friendship that binds our peoples and our countries even during the most difficult stages between Serbia and the West

Excerpt from His Excellency Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's speech delivered at a 6th March press conference during his visit to Serbia

I

n the meeting, as President Vučić remarked, which we had personally, I reiterated Italy’s convinced support to Serbia’s European path, and the appreciation for the determination and commitment that is put by President Vučić in pursuing this goal. I confirm it: Italy, my country, will be the ambassador of Serbian requests in the path - in the process- towards European integration.

We express and I personally express strong support for the reform process which has begun: I said that we will stand by Serbia’s side and Serbia’s Government in the reform process started, and this process will individually contribute to accelerating that negotiation in the process of accession to the European Union.

We believe that the path of reforms that was undertaken will prove to be coherent, credible and irreversible; and for this I repeat, we will always have full willingness to support it. I also expressed strong support for President Vučić ‘s efforts to reach a compromise solution on Kosovo in the context of the Dialogue, facilitated by the High Representative of the European Union: in this perspective we believe that Pristina must demonstrate the necessary commitment to resume the negotiations also by revoking the measures on duties that have been introduced, as you will recall, unilaterally last November, and which affect

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Serbian products. This is not, we think, the road to a compromise solution that we strongly hope for. We are aware that Belgrade and Priština must explore all the room for negotiating available to them in order to define an agreement aimed at stabilizing and fully normalising their relations,

With my visit to Belgrade today I also conveyed a clear message about the importance that Italy attaches to political and economic but also cultural relations with Serbia: it was also mentioned by President Vučić that this year we celebrate the 140th year from the establishment of diplomatic relations between Rome and Belgrade; 10th years from the consolidation of the strategic partnership

so as to consolidate stability in the entire region.

We are here, we want this area to live a prospect of peace, prosperity, and common participation in European values.

With my visit to Belgrade today I also conveyed a clear message about the importance that Italy attaches to political and economic but also cultural relations with Serbia: it was also mentioned by President Vučić that this year we celebrate the 140th year from the establishment of diplomatic relations between Rome and Belgrade; 10 years from the consolidation of the strategic partnership. We have an intense commercial exchange, intense commercial relations; Italy is one of the biggest investors in Serbia with around 600 companies. Italy, in 2018, was confirmed Serbia’s second commercial partner, the interchange exceeded 4 billion euros and Italian exports recorded a 4.7% increase over the previous year. These numbers demonstrate how the cooperation between Rome and Belgrade is intense in many sectors: from infrastructures to the bankinginsurance sector, from textiles to the chemical and mechanical industries, and I am certainly convinced that my visit will contribute even more to intensify our commercial relations and to strengthen the cultural ties that already exist between our countries.

Leaders’

VOJKAN KRSTIĆ Chief of the Serbian ResCue CentrE

Humanitarian Who United All Nations Of The Region PAGE /36

MEETING POINT KRUNA GAVOVIĆ CEO, The Lean Six Sigma Company CEE

ANGUS DEATON

Investing in

What’s Wrong With Contemporary Capitalism?

NEBOJŠA JANIĆIJEVIĆ President of the Intesa Leasing Executive Board

RENATA MATUSINOVIĆ Business Executive Officer for Food Category, member of the Managing Board - Nestlé South East Market

We’re A Reliable Partner

Personal Contribution And Personnel Visibility Of Each Team Strengthens Member Is Key To Success Companies

PAGE /37

PAGE /40

PAGE /41

PAGE /44

VOJKAN KRSTIĆ, CHIEF OF THE SERBIAN RESCUE CENTRE

Humanitarian Who United All Nations Of The Region Vojkan Krstić had a series of sporting successes at an early age, then his entrepreneurial spirit led him into the sphere of private business, while he today owns a successful construction company and is a great humanitarian. He is well known across the entire for caring about the poor and helpless, including animals

H

umaneness is part of every person’s character. Some pay more or less attention to it, depending on the level of difficulty of their life circumstances, and my mission is to awaken as many people in this region as possible and motivate them to nurture their humaneness towards themselves, and particularly towards others, says Vojkan Krstić.

How did you find your calling?

Churchill said “a pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”. That’s the motto that leads me. Although I love my land of Serbia the most, I have great respect for our neighbours and strive for the activities I implement to be represented regionally. We live in times when one malicious thought or statement is enough to disturb the demons of the past. I agree that we can’t turn back time, though we perhaps shouldn’t forget it, but I’m sure that it’s necessary to show greatness by offering a hand of respect, cooperation and reconciliation.

What does the Serbian Resque Center represent?

This is an organisation which, in response to the catastrophic flooding of 2014, brought together big-hearted people. Our team has since then comprised 124 men and women who are ready at any moment to help the government sector in the event of emergency situations, natural disasters and technical/technological incidents.

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We’re also here to provide training in the administering of first aid and the handling of special equipment, or to provide courses in the field of humanitarian de-mining.

A special case is that of Zenica, which you visited recently.

I got the idea of visiting Zenica after talking with a priest who was once employed at Zenica Prison. Some described that as an historic moment, but given that I’m a man by nationality, I wanted to use this gesture to offer a hand of friendship and

I will continue with humanitarian activities as I have to date – spontaneously and from the heart. I have a special wish to visit children in Kosovo and Metohija and hope to realise that wish soon

show that it is necessary to build bridges for everything. I donated to Zenica Prison, which hasn’t been renovated since its inception, a gym and medical equipment. The applause I received from almost a thousand people – staff and prisoners, among whom almost 30 Serbs, 40 Croats and more than 500 Bosniaks – showed me that the idea of reconciliation between the three nations is realistic and possible.

Alongside your humanitarian work, you’re also a very successful businessman. When it comes to business, would you change anything in Serbia if you could?

As an athlete, I achieved remarkable successes at an early age, so I didn’t have an existential need to also try my hand in the private sector.

However, the positive changes in the business climate, the growth of investments over the past several years, as well as the active commitment of the administration to promote Serbia as a serious economic potential, all motivated me to expand my professional horizons, and I wasn’t mistaken in doing so. Today I advise all the entrepreneurs I know to also start from themselves first, because by investing further in our country’s private sector we are undoubtedly investing in our children’s future. I invite them in particular to contribute to the happiness and joy of those who need help. As I always say, and believe in honestly, he who is above sees and measures everything, and returns that when it’s most needed.

NEBOJŠA JANIĆIJEVIĆ, PRESIDENT OF THE INTESA LEASING EXECUTIVE BOARD

We’re A Reliable Partner The leasing industry has experienced double-digit growth in Serbia in recent years, both in terms of demand and sales, and distinguishing itself in this domain is company Intesa Leasing, which is achieving stable, controlled and diversified growth at a tempo faster than that of the market

“O

ur clear strategy, which is focused on simultaneously achieving business goals and strengthening the market in which we operate in an economic sense, has brought us excellent results,” emphasises President of the Intesa Leasing Executive Board Nebojša Janićijević with pride.

Intesa Leasing is ranked at the very top among leasing companies in Serbia. What do you think is the specific reason why most clients ultimately choose your company, among the many at their disposal?

Intesa Leasing, as part of the Intesa Sanpaolo international group, has been ranked at the very top of the domestic leasing industry for many years already, primarily thanks to a clear strategy that is focused on simultaneously achieving business goals and strengthening the market in which we operate in an economic sense.

Thanks to a focus on small and mediumsized enterprises, the digitalisation of almost all business processes, the diversification of sales channels, continuous management of portfolio quality, the levels of NPLs and costs, Intesa Leasing has become synonymous with reliability, expertise and financial strength.

When it comes to the specific reasons why Intesa Leasing is the number one choice for most clients, I would firstly point out the

financing of leasing items that serve in the function of generating revenue for clients, and which are provided under very attractive interest rates and repayment periods. In this way, clients don’t only receive support via investments in fixed assets that increase their income, but also via the possibility of

The leasing industry has been recording intensive and even double-digit growth in Serbia in recent years, both in terms of demand and sales, and Intesa Leasing itself is realising stable, controlled and diversified growth that is even faster than that of the market

repaying leasing services without any difficulties, with very low financing costs and longer repayment deadlines.

In cooperation with the European Investment Bank, your company has for years approved leases for various purposes to SMEs in Serbia.

How would you assess the effects of this cooperation, both for you as a company and for the SME economy?

The more than successful cooperation between Intesa Leasing and the European Investment Bank (EIB) is based on the realisation of mutually harmonised goals, primarily through a focus on SMEs. By securing lines

of credit for the financing of investments under the most favourable conditions on the market, Intesa Leasing – in cooperation with the EIB – provides its clients with support for their growth and development under conditions that are similar to, or even more favourable than, those available to companies in the EU. I would stress that this type of cooperation with the EIB wouldn’t be possible without the huge support of one of the most stable international financial groups, our parent bank Intesa Sanpaolo, primarily in the form of guarantees for credit lines approved by the EIB. What are your plans for this year; can you say that leasing has come to fruition as a sector across the Balkans?

In accordance with our company’s strategic commitment to the automotive industry, at the recent Motor Show we presented the WEB Portal that enabled interested companies to receive a response to submitted funding requests within just a few minutes and without any documentation whatsoever.

We will continue to focus on the financing of commercial vehicles, the procurement of haulage vehicles, buses and construction plant machinery, as well as on the financing of real estate, which Intesa Leasing is the only company to have introduced to the market. I can state freely that the results we’ve achieved provide us with the basis to set ambitious goals for this year and next, the realisation of which we are primarily planning through changes to flows in the actual process of approving leasing requests, as well as through the complete automation of operations.

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War

“We remember March 24 as the day diplomacy failed, and we express our sincere regret for the loss of civilian lives during the events of 1999. We are saddened for all of those who lost their loved ones during the wars of the 1990s.” – JOINT STATEMENT OF SEVERAL WESTERN EMBASSIES IN BELGRADE

LOCAL NEWS

ALUMLIGHT PRODUCTION

WAREHOUSE TO BE BUILT IN VALJEVO

JAGODINSKA PIVARA

BREWERY SOLD FOR 50 MILLION DINARS The Board of Creditors of Jagodinska Pivara [Jagodina Brewery], which is under bankruptcy proceedings, has accepted an offer of RSD 50 million that will see the company sold to Jagodina-based trade firm X-TRADE D.O.O., according to an announcement of the Bankruptcy Supervision Agency.

X-TRADE submitted the only bid, though the price was below 50% of the assets as evaluated on 18th February, which meant that approval required the consent of the Jagodinska Pivara Board of Creditors. Jagodinska Pivara’s total assets were evaluated at RSD 711 million, with its most important parts represented by a Jagodina business complex consisting of 41 facilities, as well as warehouses in the cities of Niš, Kruševac and Požarevac.

Israeli company Alumlight Production Ltd., which works on the design, development, production and distribution of formwork structures and other types of building systems, is set to build its own warehouse in Valjevo, after having already established a presence in Serbia.

Alumlight has a logistics centre in Israel’s Park Mevo Carmel and a formwork fabrication plant located in the village of Kfar Tavor. This Israeli firm has partnered with company Optimus and they plan to participate jointly in the upcoming 45th Belgrade Trade Fair this April.

Alumlight will also participate in the realisation of two new projects in Serbia. The first is the construction of an athletics stadium in the town of Kraljevo, while within the framework of the second project the company will participate, along with Ingrap-omni, in the construction of a section of rail tracks between Inđija and Novi Sad, which forms part of the international project to establish a high-speed rail link between Budapest and Belgrade.

AL DAHRA

15 MILLION EUROS TO BE INVESTED IN PKB General Manager of Al Dahra, Vojin Lazarević, has said that the company will invest 15 million euros in agribusiness operator PKB Corporation by March or April, representing half of total investment planned over the next three years.

Under Al Dahra’s agreement with the Government of Serbia, the company should invest 30 million euros over the next three years, with 50% of that total to be invested by now, half a year after the purchase. Al Dahra signed an agreement to purchase PKB for slightly over 105 million euros in October 2018. Operating on around 17,500 hectares of agricultural land possessed by eight farms located strategically located close to the centre of Belgrade, the company plans to grow various crops, including sugar beet, sunflower, wheat, corn, barley, animal feed and several types of vegetables.

Al Dahra is an international corporation specialising in the agriculture sector. It has around 160,000 hectares of agricultural land on four continents.

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SLOVENIAN KOLEKTOR

INVESTOR TO EMPLOY 2,000 WORKERS IN PRIJEDOR Prijedor Mayor Milenko Ðaković announced on 1st March that Slovenian concern Kolektor would employ 2,000 people in his city. “I believe that we will thereby make young people decide to stay here,” Mayor Ðaković told press in Prijedor after visiting the construction site of the company’s production facility in the Celpak Industrial Zone. He announced that Kolektor would build another two production facilities in Prijedor in the coming years.

“We are initiating the production of machines in B-H, which means that we will have better jobs, jobs for engineers”, said Kolektor CCL Director Predrag Zorić.

Kolektor produces components for the auto industry and tools for its machines and the external market.

AIK BANKA

FIRST SERBIAN BANK TO ENTER EU MARKET AIK Banka has successfully finalised procedures to acquire a majority stake in Gorenjska Banka, with the acquisition of a 90.11% stake making it the new owner of this Slovenian bank. While strengthening its position in the region, AIK Banka also gains an opportunity to provide its clients with a high quality service in the EU, together with Gorenjska Banka.

Meanwhile, as a strategic investor, AIK Banka will support the development of Gorenjska Banka into a strong regional bank present across the entire market of Slovenia, emphasised AIK Banka Executive Board President and Gorenjska Banka Supervisory Board President Jelena Galić.

Nation

“Serbian Army will never be with those who are oppressing their nation. No authority will ever be able to use us against our own nation.” – NOVICA ANTIĆ, PRESIDENT OF THE ARMY OF SERBIA TRADE UNION

Placements postings

&

appointments@aim.rs

IZTOK JARC, NEW AMBASSADOR OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA TO SERBIA

SA-WAN

THAI “PARADISE” IN THE CENTRE OF BELGRADE Thai traditional massage is an ancient healing method that combines targeted acupressure stimulation and manipulation of energy lines called sen with assisted body postures.

Thai massage, as it is most commonly called, is a traditional type of massage that comes from Thailand. It is also known as Nuad Phaen Boran in its traditional medical form though its formal name is merely Nuat Thai.

Thai traditional massage uses no oils or lotions, while the client wears comfortable clothing. There is constant contact between therapist and client. The body is compressed, pulled, stretched and rocked.

Aromatherapy Thai massage is a blend of Eastern and Western techniques that combines Thai style deep tissue massage and sophisticated Western style Swedish holistic massage. The massage is performed using aroma oil, with the client undressed and covered with a warm towel on a comfortable table.

Couple massage: For the pair that wants to share the benefit of massage as much as experiencing it themselves, nothing is better than a couple massage session.

The massage is performed in the same room at the same time, but each of you can choose the type of massage that you personally enjoy the most.

TURKSTREAM PIPELINE

WORKS TO START IN APRIL “On 5th March, the Energy Agency of the Republic of Serbia made the final decision and responded positively to the Gastrans statement on the implementation of the project,” said Serbian Mining and Energy Minister Aleksandar Antić, adding that works on the TurkStream pipeline are set to start in April.

Gastrans is responsible for laying the gas transportation pipeline from Bulgaria to Hungary. The company is owned by Swiss-based South Stream Serbia, of which Russia’s Gazprom holds a 51-per cent stake, with Serbian gas company Srbijagas holding the remaining 49 per cent.

Russia and Turkey officially agreed in October 2016 to develop the Turkish Stream, which consists of two lines with a combined annual capacity of 31.5 billion cubic metres. The first section will deliver Russian natural gas directly to Turkey, while the second stretches to the Turkish-European border, to reach European consumers.

H.E. Iztok Jarc (55) graduated political science, international orientation from the University of Ljubljana He started his career at the MFA’s Department for Cooperation with the EEC and EFTA in 1991, then served as head of the Department for Bilateral Economic Relations at the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Ljubljana. From 1996 to 2000 he was an advisor for economic affairs in the Mission of Slovenia to the EU in Brussels. From 2004 to 2007, he served as ambassador to Israel, then to the Republic of Ireland and to Great Britain and Northern Ireland, after which he became ambassador to the OECD in Paris. In 2017/2018 he was a member of the Cabinet of the Slovenian Foreign Minister, Head of the Working Group for Real Estate, based in Ljubljana. Apart from his native Slovenian, he speaks English, French and Serbian. A married father of three adult children.

EDUARDO BOTELHO BARBOSA, NEW AMBASSADOR OF BRAZIL TO SERBIA

H.E. Eduardo Botelho Barbosa (67) born in Glasgow graduated from the Université Libre de Bruxelles as a Commercial Engineer. He also possesses a Master’s Degree in International Public Policy, from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC, USA, and a High Level Diplomatic Thesis (CAE), Commercial Promotion: General Considerations, Canada and Reflections about the Brazilian Case, from the Instituto Rio Branco, Brazilian Diplomatic Academy, in 2001.

He began his diplomatic career in 1977, serving as an ambassadorial Third Secretary, and advanced to the position of ambassador in 2010.

He began his diplomatic career as Consulate General in New York, then at the Embassy in La Paz, in Washington, Toronto, London, Moscow. He served as Ambassador in Algiers from 2013 and was appointed Ambassador in Belgrade in February 2019. He is married to Monique Merriam, with whom he has a daughter.

RETAIL PARK NEST IN UŽICE

OPENING SET FOR AUTUMN 2019 Following the successful opening of Retail Park NEST Kraljevo, RC Europe has launched works in the city of Užice, where Retail Park NEST Užice is due to open in autumn 2019.

The area of 11,918m2 where the new 7,000m2 Retail Park NEST Užice will be built is located in the Krčagovo neighbourhood’s Miloša Obrenovića Street, opposite the existing Lidl supermarket. Retail Park NEST Užice will have 17 retail outlets on two floors and 124 parking spaces, as well as a children’s playground.

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RENATA MATUSINOVIĆ, BUSINESS EXECUTIVE OFFICER FOR FOOD CATEGORY, MEMBER OF THE MANAGING BOARD - NESTLÉ SOUTH EAST MARKET

Personal Contribution And Visibility Of Each Team Member Is Key To Success Nestlé has around 328,000 employees worldwide, with 700 in the Adriatic region that covers seven markets: Croatia, Serbia, BosniaHerzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Slovenia

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ith a local presence for more than 15 years, Nestlé Adriatic employs 537 people in Serbia, out of which 57 percent are female, while 60 percent of managerial positions are held by women.

We spoke with Renata Matusinović, Business Executive Officer for Food Category and member of the Managing Board of Nestlé South East Market, about her 15 years of business experience in Nestlé, the company’s dynamic development and the changes that have occurred over the past decade in their way of doing business.

As an executive officer for the food category, you have to manage different profiles of employees – from number-oriented financial staff and process-focused procurement personnel to creative marketing teams. Are they so different, and how do you manage to adjust?

Before we start to work on any project it is very important, to set clear and measurable objectives, and how each person will contribute to the business results. We all need to work and function as a team with a common goal, which will ensure that we “row in the same direction”. Everybody contributes in their own field of expertise, but at the same time collaborates with others, bringing synergy to the highest level. Diversity and inclusivity are essential parts of our company’s culture, and we see diversity as a strength, since it is all about getting the right mix of people.

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During your long career, you’ve probably seen how companies have been changing. For you, what were the most important transformation points that have influenced the business and you personally as a leader?

For me, transformation is a change of mind set that affects both individuals and the organization. From a business perspective it is really demanding, since it includes new technology, geopolitical factors and changing consumer trends, which means that we must be ready to adapt fast to deliver superior business results and to delight our consumers. The most important principles are defining our focus, finding winning ground and constantly working on developing experts and leaders.

To achieve a win-win situation, Nestlé has a very simple formula: provide a purpose and hope; be supportive, engage people to recognise opportunities for private and business growth, let people decide and act, at the same time allowing them to take purposeful risks

When it comes to creativity, what is the best approach to achieve results by using employee motivation?

Nestlé has an approach that supports and engages people to recognise opportunities for both private and business growth.

In addition, it is crucial to let people decide for themselves and take purposeful risks.

How do you value the importance of HR as a factor in the company’s further development?

Human Resources needs to be all about people. Its role is to continuously feel the pulse of employees and adapt their needs to the business, as flexible working hours, development of new skills, working out of the office etc. It is crucial for HR not to be a supporting function, but to be our business partner. Regarding the necessary skills for HR, they should focus further on gaining marketing and analytical skills.

Most top executives are driven by key performance indicators and results, while for leading successful agile teams it is essentially that they possess patience. How can that gap be bridged?

In reality we expect the business to perform as usual. Senior management should be involved in development of people and in building coherent teams with no hierarchy, giving visibility to all team members and always staying close to them. Simply stated, our model for success is ‘grow business – grow people; grow people – grow business’.

KRUNA GAVOVIĆ, CEO, THE LEAN SIX SIGMA COMPANY CEE

Investing in Personnel Strengthens Companies The Lean Six Sigma Company has multiple offices in Europe, and the one for CEE region is located in Serbia

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e conduct both training and mentoring, and what’s nice and useful with LSS is the fact that trained Master Black Belts (MBB) can later independently train personnel within their own companies, explains CEO of The Lean Six Sigma Company CEE, Kruna Gavović.

A company’s success depends on people and their expertise, specific knowhow and skills. How do you help them to become even more successful?

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is increasingly becoming part of the practises of companies in which change is permanent and with more and more momentum, and in which primarily managers, but also employees, are aware of the fact that it isn’t the strongest that survive, but rather those that adapt the quickest.

Around 80 per cent of today’s Fortune 100 companies apply LSS in some form.

In order for a company to apply LSS, it is necessary to train an appropriate number of people, to conduct projects under the guidance of a mentor and to be equipped to apply projects independently, which must have effects proven through bookkeeping.

The parent company under which we operate, The Lean Six Sigma Company from Rotterdam, is a European leader in LSS training and has for the past five years been the “gazelle” of the Dutch economy

in terms of the fastest growth, with over 10,000 trained and certified experts.

You educate professionals to the level of Lean Six Sigma Experts, while you additionally assist organisations in implementing this programme. What does that entail specifically?

Certificates are just the beginning, while implementation is the next task and is a tougher one. The number of tools and methods within LSS is huge

Only the most experienced Lean Six Sigma experts can assess which LSS tool and technique should be used in a specific environment and to what extent.

But, successfull LSS projects can bring many percents of the turnover in savings

- Kanban, Kaizen, Gemba, Poka Yoke, 5S, 5 Why, FMEA, SMED, TPM, VSM, JIT, DMAIC, 7 Waist, SPC, DMADV, VoC, Kano and A3 are just some of them. This is why only the most experienced Master Black Belts can assess which of them should be used in a specific environment and to what extent. The headquarters in the

Netherlands has at its disposal a very large network of MBBs who can help the newly-trained to head in the right way through the complex LSS map.

Every trainee who completes the training receives a certificate. Is it internationally recognised? Are experts who possess one more valued?

It is not only the certificates of The Lean Six Sigma Company that are internationally accredited – possessing IASSC accreditation – rather the whole company is certified according to ISO 18404. One characteristic of our franchise is that you can get the same certificate that is issued in the Netherlands, but at a price tailored to local conditions. We believe that this is why our training courses are increasingly attended by trainees from abroad. Generally, LSS certified experts register constant income growth.

You also serve as marketing manager at TMS CEE d.o.o. (Ltd.)?

Yes, TMS CEE is an established and highly rated company in the domain of certification. I’m particularly proud of our new and exclusive services, among which I would single out the Family Friendly Enterprise – WLB certification – worklife balance, which enables companies to retain valuable staff . We’re striving to extend this concept to our region, which has already brought benefits to thousands of employees here in Serbia.

April

41

Mistake

“Europe had made great mistakes in the Balkans. The question is: how is it possible that such an important principle as territorial integrity can be ignored?” – CAROLOS PAPOULAS, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GREECE

REGIONAL NEWS BULGARIA

ACIBADEM KEEPS HOSPITALS IN BULGARIA

HUNGARY

BUDAPEST REAL ESTATE BUSINESS BOOMING The real estate in Budapest business is booming and number of foreigners interested in buying real estate in Hungary is growing. In 2018 some 3,529 Hungarian properties were bought by foreigners. In 2018, 3,529 pieces of real estate were bought by foreigners, which is 323 more than in 2017, based on the government’s statistics. Among the different nations 1610 Chinese citizens became owners of Hungarian property in 2018, which is 37-people more than in 2017. The silver medal goes to the Israelis who bought 331 real estates, and the Russians bought 312.

Ukrainians, Americans and the Turkish were all high on the list, too. Budapest was the most popular city among foreign buyers: 2,693 properties were bought here out of the 3,529. The least popular region seems to be Tolna county, where only six sales were made with foreign buyers last year.

The largest private healthcare company in the country “Acibadem City Clinic” stopped the process of selling the chain of hospitals in Bulgaria, keeping the existing structure, announced the press center of the hospital group.

The group has decided to reconsider the decision to sell due to the improvement in Turkish financial stability factors and the declining currency risk. “Acibadem City Clinic” will continue to provide the highest standard of healthcare services in Bulgaria and the region in the long term, and strategic decisions and approved investments are forthcoming before the group,” the hospital group said.

In the next year the investment plan of the group amounts to BGN 18 million (9.2mln) which will be allocated for technologies and improvement of the building stock in the healthcare establishments.

The group includes four hospitals and three medical centers, and the three Sofia hospitals are the only ones accredited by Joint Commission International (JCI).

MONTENEGRO

CONSTRUCTION WASTE THREATENS TO BURY RIVER TARA The Tara river banks and its immediate surroundings along construction site of the Smokovac-Matesevo priority section of the highway, are threatened by huge amounts of various construction waste that the contractors dispose without respecting measures envisaged by the law on Waste Management, environmental NGOs warned.

NGO Ozon, NGO Breznica and Center for Development of Durmitor stated that during the civic monitoring of the impact the project has to the environment, carried out in cooperation with NGO MANS, they established a series of irregularities in the field, that are enabled by the controversial documents passed by competent institutions.

They called on the MPs of Montenegrin parliament to visit the situation in the field, face the “apocalyptic scenes and take on responsibility for degradation of the heritage that their colleagues from 1991 left them in the form of the document that had been passed Source: MINA/Skyphotos.me unanimously”.

ROMANIA

ELECTRIC SCOOTER AND BIKE RENTAL ENTERS ROMANIA U.S. start-up Lime, a rental service for electric scooters and bicycles, valued last summer at over $10 billion, will enter the Romanian market. The company is currently recruiting personnel and seeking to hire a manager to supervise local operations, Profit.ro said.

Last summer, Lime entered into a partnership with the American ridesharing service Uber.

Uber’s rival Taxify entered the electric bicycles rental market last autumn.

Electric scooter rental services are booming, especially in the U.S. The most important players are Lime and Bird, two unicorns currently rated at over $10 billion each.

Lime electric vehicles are produced in China based on specifications provided by the U.S. company, and the service is already available in more than 70 markets in the US and Europe.

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April

Troubles

“When it comes to troubles per capita, the western Balkans are much bigger than, for example, Germany and France together” – DONALD TUSK, PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL MACEDONIA

CROATIA

Economic momentum should have gained ground in Q4 2018.

Tourist arrivals continued to increase at a solid pace in December. Likewise, upbeat retail sales in December and throughout the quarter suggest private consumption should have made solid gains in the quarter. Moreover, the average quarterly growth of industrial production surpassed that of Q3, while construction activity recovered in Q4. Economic growth is set to accelerate in 2019 as investment recovers and household spending picks up. Moreover, EU-accession talks should boost investor confidence and attract more FDI. Sluggish growth in the Euro-area could dampen domestic growth prospects, however. FocusEconomics panelists expect GDP to expand 2.9% in 2019, unchanged from last month’s forecast, and 3.1% in 2020.

Revenues of the Agrokor food and retail group in January 2019 amounted to €202.2 million, the group’s emergency administration said in the latest monthly report. Data in the report refer to the operations of 16 companies that make up the group’s three business segments - Retail and Wholesale, Food, and Agriculture. The report shows that all three segments saw an increase in revenues and EBITDA in January compared to the plan.

The report also shows that the operating expenses of Agrokor’s emergency administration, in the period from 10th April 2017, when it took over the management of the group, to the end of January 2019, totalled around €184.7, of which the largest portion, €107.4 million was the cost of legal, financial and other advisors and restructuring consultants.

MACEDONIA ECONOMIC GROWTH

AGROKOR GROUP’S OPERATING PROFIT OF €4.6

April

43

Economy

What’s Wrong With Contemporary Capitalism?

By Angus Deaton

Behind today’s populist upheavals is a widespread recognition that the economy no longer serves the public good, or even the interests of most of its participants. To understand why, one must identify what has been lost amid so much material technological gain

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R

ather suddenly, capitalism is visibly sick.

The virus of socialism has reemerged and is infecting the young once more.

Wiser heads, who respect capitalism’s past achievements, want to save it, and have been proposing diagnoses and remedies. But their proposals sometimes overlap with those who would tear the system down, making nonsense of traditional left-right distinctions.

Fortunately, Raghuram G. Rajan, a former governor of the Reserve Bank of India who teaches at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, brings his unparalleled knowledge and experience to bear on the problem.

In his new book,The Third Pillar: How Markets and the State Leave Community Behind, he arguesthat the cancer afflicting contemporary capitalism is the failure neither of “Leviathan” (the state) nor of “Behemoth” (the market), but of community, which no longer serves as a check against either monster. Rajan thus prescribes an “inclusive localism” to rebuild communities that can furnish people with self-respect, status, and meaning.

Rajan’s book, like Oxford University economist Paul Collier’s The Future of Capitalism, is part of a rapidly growing genre of critiques

by capitalism’s friends. Rajan is a proponent of capitalism who has accepted that it no longer works in the interest of the social good, and must be brought back under control.

The Third Pillar offers deep historical context to explain the current moment, but it is most successful when it retraces developments after World War II to explain why everything started unraveling around 1970. Until then, the world had been busy recovering and rebuilding, and economic growth had received an added boost from the adoption of frontier technologies through replacement investment.

But trend growth has decelerated since 1970, accounting for many of our current difficulties.

Through it all, governments have had no idea how to address the slowdown, other than to promise a restoration of the lost postwar paradise. In most cases, that has meant additional borrowing. And in Europe, elites have pursued continental unification with the great aim of stopping recurrent episodes of carnage. Yet in their rush to secure the obvious benefits of integration, they forgot to bring their citizens along. They have since learned that after hubris comes nemesis.

The success of social democracy in the post-

war era weakened the market’s power to act as a moderating influence on the state. According to Rajan, these weakened actors, in both Europe and America, were in no position to deal with the revolution in information and communication technology (ICT) that they were about to face, leaving ordinary people to face the threats on their own. Rather than helping their workers manage the disruption, corporations made it worse by using their employees’ vulnerability to enrich their shareholders and managers.

And how they enriched themselves! With median household incomes largely stagnant and a growing share of wealth accruing to the rich, capitalism became manifestly unfair, losing its popular support. To manage its opponents, Behemoth called on Leviathan for protection, not understanding that a right-wing populist Leviathan eats Behemoth in the end.

Two points of Rajan’s story need to be emphasized. First, declining growth is a key, albeit low-frequency, cause of today’s social and economic distress. Second, the unfortunate consequences of the ICT revolution are not inherent properties of technological change. Rather, as Rajan notes, they reflect a “failure of the state and markets to modulate markets.” Though Rajan does not emphasize it, this second point gives us cause for hope. It means that ICT need not doom us to a jobless future; enlightened policymaking still has a role to play.

Rajan’s account of corporate misbehavior is very well told, and it is all the more effective coming from a professor at a prominent business school. From the start, the near-absolutist doctrine of shareholder primacy has served to protect managers at the expense of employees, and its malign effects have been exacerbated by the practice of paying managers in stock.

In The Future of Capitalism, Collier gives a parallel account from Britain, telling the story of the most admired British company of his (and my) childhood, Imperial Chemical Industries.

Growing up, we all hoped someday to work at ICI, whose mission was “to be the finest chemical company in the world.” But in the 1990s, ICI amended its primary objective by embracing shareholder value. And in Collier’s telling, that single change destroyed the company.

What of community? The United States once led the world in public education, providing local schools where children of all talents and economic backgrounds learned together. And

when elementary education became insufficient, communities started providing access to secondary school for all.

Today, however, when a college degree is a prerequisite for success, the more talented kids pursue theirs far outside of the community, ultimately self-segregating in fast-growing cities from which the less talented are excluded by the

I think that community is a casualty of an elite minority’s capture of both markets and the state.

But I am skeptical that stronger local communities or a policy of localism (inclusive or not) can cure what ails us. The genie of meritocracy cannot be put back in the bottle high cost of living. Ensconced in their glittering cloisters, those who succeed form a meritocracy in which their kids – and almost exclusively their kids – do well.

Collier tells the same story for Britain, where

talent and the share of national income have become increasingly concentrated in London, leaving gutted and angry communities behind.

Yet as Janan Ganesh of the Financial Times points out, these metropolitan elites now find themselves “shackled to a corpse.”

For his part, Rajan sees the meritocracy as a product of the ICT revolution. But I suspect it is

older than that. After all, the British sociologist Michael Young published his prescient dystopia, The Rise of the Meritocracy,in 1958. Indeed, Collier and I are among the first British meritocrats.

And just as Young predicted, our cohort broke the system for subsequent generations, while continuing to extol its virtues. In Scotland, where I grew up, the local community talent, the intellectuals, writers, historians, and artists have all gone in search of wider pastures, or simply given up competing with mass-market superstars. We are the poorer for it.

Like Rajan, I think that community is a casualty of an elite minority’s capture of both markets and the state. But unlike him, I am skeptical that stronger local communities or a policy of localism (inclusive or not) can cure what ails us. The genie of meritocracy cannot be put back in the bottle.

The author is Professor of Economics and International Affairs Emeritus at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs

Copyright: Project Sindicate

April

45

Brexit

“Now is the time to come together to back this improved Brexit deal and to deliver on the instruction of the British people.” – THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME

WORLD NEWS UK

IS FORMAL OFFICE DRESS CODE DEAD?

RUSSIA

MTS TO PAY $850MLN IN US GRAFT CASE US prosecutors reached an $850 million settlement with Russia’s leading telecoms firm over huge bribes paid to the family of Uzbekistan’s former president—and charged the late leader’s daughter in related proceedings.

The case shed light on massive corruption in Uzbekistan under former president Islam Karimov, who ruled the ex-Soviet republic from 1990 until his death in 2016.

MTS, based in Moscow and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, said the settlement had been agreed with the US Justice Department and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The deals “mark the closure of the investigations into the company’s acquisition and operation of its former subsidiary in Uzbekistan.

Goldman Sachs has become the latest corporate behemoth to relax its office dress code, part of a wider trend that could soon see the traditional suit and tie become extinct.

In a memo to staff, management issued new guidelines emphasising a “firmwide flexible dress code” to take into account a “changing nature of workplaces generally in favour of a more casual environment”.

The company’s move for “a more chill dress code” is fitting with other banks such as JP Morgan, Bustle says, “who are looking to address the needs and expectations of a younger work force”. This is not to say the high-flying world of Wall Street banking is ready to embrace the de rigeur T-shirts and jeans approach of their Silicon Valley counterparts, but it nevertheless represents a culture shift in what is still a conservative and male-dominated environment.

MITSUBISHI STARTED TESTING PASSENGER PLANE

The Japanese conglomerate announced that test flights of its new Mitsubishi Regional Jet have started in the U.S. If successful, the 90-passenger jet will become the first Japanese-built airliner since the 1960s. The Mitsubishi jet has been in development for more than a decade and faced seven years of planned delivery date is mid-2020.

That may be a tight turn-around. Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner was certified 20 months after starting flight tests; for Honda Motor’s HondaJet it took two years. Mitsubishi has less than 18 months.

Mitsubishi’s financial strength and experience in manufacturing airliner parts for other companies may make it the best-placed company to take on Boeing and Airbus, and that could ultimately reduce prices for airlines and passengers alike.

April

WAYS TO SPRING CLEAN YOUR BUSINESS

This winter was a roller coaster of cold and warm. Now that spring is here, isn’t it time to do some spring cleaning for your business, too?

1. Clean up that inbox; 2. Clean out your inventory; 3. Clean up your website and social media; 4. Scrub your customer lists; 5. Clean up your staff; 6. Dust off that business plan; 7. Batter up; 8. Have that tough conversation; 9. Ditch all that paper; 10. Clean your office;

JAPAN

46

10

Advice

“Mrs May ignored advice from my father, and ultimately, a process that should have taken only a few short months has become a years-long stalemate, leaving the British people in limbo” – DONALD TRUMP JR.

TURKEY

FERRERO TO INVEST €245.3MLN THIS YEAR Italian confectionery giant Ferrero projects a total investment of TL 150 million (€24.5millin) in Turkey this year. This amount is expected to cover training and technical support for hazelnut producers along with the ongoing development activities in the company’s facilities.

Ferrero has six production facilities in Turkey. Ferrero Group Turkey runs three factories in Trabzon and also in Düzce, İzmit and Manisa.

It employs 1,500 people, runs eight warehouses, five collection centers and five Ferrero Farming Values offices.

Ferrero Group is one of the largest companies in the global confectionery and chocolate markets with a total business volume of over €10 billion. The group has 22 production facilities and nine agricultural companies worldwide.

Turkey, the world’s largest hazelnut exporter, earned €29 billion with nearly 287,000 tons of hazelnut exports last season.

SWEDEN

VOLVO TO SET LOWER SPEED LIMIT ON ALL NEW CARS

U.S.A.

AMAZON TO LAUNCH NEW RETAIL BUSINESS Amazon is planning to launch a new retail business in Los Angeles by the end of 2019, which is not connected to its current operations through the Whole Foods Market stores and online operations.

The company is also looking into potential acquisitions in order to expand its new brand of supermarkets through purchasing regional store chains with around ten stores.

The new stores will offer products at lower prices. The offer will include products different from those available at the Whole Food Market stores.

FRANCE

MICHELIN SCOOPS TOP TIRE MAKER AWARD Environmental initiatives over the past 12 months have helped Michelin to earn the ‘tire manufacturer of the year’ title in the 2019 Tire Technology International (TTI) Awards.

The award recognised Michelin’s commitment to 2048 sustainability targets and product innovation work in areas such as tire-materials technology.

As examples, he cited environmental initiatives “such as micronised rubber powder and clever tread pattern design that still…

SWITZERLAND

NEW VERSION OF BANKNOTE WORTH 1,000 FRANCS

Volvo Cars says it will limit the top speed of its new cars at 180 km/h in all markets as of next year because ‘‘too many people get seriously injured or even killed because of excessive speeding.’’

The company cited figures from the U.S. government’s highway safety agency showing that 25 percent of all traffic fatalities in 2017 were caused by speeding.

Volvo Cars is based in Goteborg, Sweden, but is owned by China’s Geely holding company.

It’s purple and yellow, and very valuable, Switzerland’s central bank has unveiled a redesigned version of its 1,000-franc (€883) note.

The Swiss National Bank said that the overhauled version of its highest-denomination note is “smaller and thus easier to handle” than its predecessor, as well as incorporating “complex security features.”

The note, featuring a handshake on one side and the Swiss parliament on the other, will go into circulation starting March 13.

The 1,000-franc note is a longstanding tradition in cash-friendly Switzerland. Still, the country’s approach contrasts with that of the European Central Bank, which in 2016 decided to discontinue production of its 500-euro note — currently worth $567.

The ECB dropped its biggest note amid concerns that it had become too popular among crooks and money launderers.

April

47

Enterpreneur

MARTIN VARSAVSKY

Founder Of Eight 48

April

Successful Businesses

Serial entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky has founded eight businesses, including two that garner valuations exceeding $1 billion, while many have been funded by big-name firms, such as Google Ventures, Microsoft and Sequoia Capital It was during his college days, in 1984, that Martin Varsavsky (born 1960 in Buenos Aires) started his first business: Urban Capital Corporation, one of the early leaders of the loft residence movement in downtown Manhattan.

This was soon followed, in 1986, by Medicorp Services, a Canadian biotech company pioneering in AIDS and PSA testing. His third business, Viatel Ltd., Martin’s first venture into the world of telecommunications, was founded in 1990. This company is best known for inventing callback and building the first pan European fibre optic network prior to liberalisation.

Varsavsky, who currently teaches entrepreneurship at Columbia University when not at home in Spain, credits a specific management practise for moving from one venture to the next.

This Argentine entrepreneur accomplished his first venture in 1985, founding a New York real estate development company with a personal investment of $25,000. The returns that he and his team earned placed him in a position to retire at 27.

Martin tends to spend one year building up a company before seeking to reduce his personal involvement. He built Medicorp Sciences, a medical services company, after recruiting top scientists from his native Argentina, including Nobel Laureate Dr Cesar Milstein. When he tired of paying for long distance calls to speak with his family back in Buenos Aires, an idea hit Varsavsky that launched him into the world of fibre optics and internet connectivity.

First there was Viatel, a pan-European telecommunications company that grew to a value of $1.2 billion at the time he sold his shares. Then came Jazztel, a Spanish telecom company that eventually swelled to $3.6 billion, followed by

Ya.com, a popular Spanish internet company that sold for over $500 million.

His résumé continues with his Googlebacked wifi-sharing company Fon, a German

cloud computing venture that was ahead of its time, and Prelude Fertility, the start-up he founded to help couples have children. His experience begs the question: How is one founder capable of such repeated success?

For Varsavsky, as much as the aura of entrepreneurship might revolve around iconic founders like Elon Musk or Steve Jobs, a company’s success has more to do with the teams assembled by its founder.

He lost $50 million on the cloud computing company after it failed to live up to expectations.

Coming up with a compelling idea worth chasing is only step one. “The next step is to look at yourself in the mirror,” says Varsavsky. “I know it’s paradoxical because you see yourself, but you have to think, ‘What am I not?’ and, ‘What is it

People complain about email, but I am so happy the phone call era is over.

At least on email there’s an order. With phone calls it was a case of the last person to call getting your attention first

that my company doesn’t have?’. Once you have the parts of your company, it’s sort of like the missing person’s mirror.”

Varsavsky explains that he surrounded himself with workers who had traits that he lacked.

His employees were patient, organised and methodical co-workers, which helped balance his more improvised style.

“Without them I never would have built what I built,” Varsavsky says. “They’re amazing people who went on to be CEOs themselves.”

Martin’s best-known ventures were founded

April

49

Enterpreneur

during the last two decades. It was in 1998 that he launched Jazztel Telecomunicaciones ( Jazztel), Spain’s second largest publicly traded telecom operator. In 1999 he founded Ya.com, Spain’s third largest website/DSL provider that includes the second largest Spanish language web agency, www.viajar.com. However, not all of MV´s companies were successful. In 2000 he set up Germany’s largest ASP, Einsteinet, but the company was sold in 2003 at no return to him or investors. He joined the supervisory board of publishing house Axel Springer in 2014.

Martin’s current venture is Fon. Founded in November 2005, it is a community-empowered company dedicated to building the world’s largest global WiFi network from the bottom up, spreading the power of WiFi around the world, with over seven million hot spots created by 2012. Fon attracted Skype, eBay and Google as partners and quickly became the world’s largest WiFi community.

He also engages in not-for-profit activities.

Over the past 10 years he’s been teaching entrepreneurship at the Instituto de Empresa, Spain’s leading business school, while he also manages his own Varsavsky Foundation, best known as the founder of two large educational projects in Latin America – Educ.ar (Argentina) and EducarChile (Chile) – and the Safe Democracy Foundation.

Having served as Ambassador at Large of

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April

The idea for Prelude was actually born out of personal experience.

Martin and Nina Varsavsky have six healthy children, with a seventh on the way Argentina between 2001 and 2005, he is also on the Board of Trustees of the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation and is a board member of the Instituto de Empresa.

Varsavsky has written numerous articles on business and international relations that have been published in several international publications, including El Pais and Newsweek.

He is also a frequent speaker at conferences around the world and an active blogger. He is the recipient of various acknowledgements and awards, among them the 1998 European Telecommunications Entrepreneur of the Year Award, ECTA’s European Entrepreneur of the Year for 1999, Global Leader for Tomorrow for 2000 according to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Spanish Entrepreneur of the Year 2000 and Columbia University’s 2004 Pickering Prize.

After moving to the United States from Spain in 2014, he received his BA from New York University, while he also earned an MA in International Affairs and an MA in Business Administration from Columbia University.

His latest start-up, Prelude Fertility, has a bold plan to turn the infertility industry on its head. Varsavsky isn’t just Prelude’s founder, because ‘Seven’, his upcoming child, will be the first “Prelude baby”!

Armed with $200 million, Prelude plans to take the technology of infertility – in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and egg freezing – and expand it aggressively into fertility, hoping to usher in a world where women’s decisions about family and career aren’t ruled by their biological clocks. Rather than catering primarily to women nearing the end of their childbearing years, who often find it harder to conceive, Prelude will target women aged from their late 20s to mid-30s, when it’s easier to harvest eggs and when those eggs are more likely to lead to healthy babies. As women increasingly delay childbirth – nearly one in three American women now has her first child after the age of 30 and nearly one in ten after 35 – Prelude sees itself as an insurance policy that gives women more control over their childbearing choices. “We’re about helping women and couples have healthy babies when they’re ready,” says Varsavsky.

Prelude Fertility aims to leverage existing infertility technologies, such as IVF and egg freezing, and take itself national in order to change the equation for women who are trying to balance starting a family and building a career. As Varsavsky puts it, “we’re about helping women and couples have healthy babies when they’re ready.”

The idea for Prelude was actually born out of personal experience. He and his wife, Nina, were struggling to start a family of their own.

They conceived their first child together through IVF, then froze their eggs and sperm for future use and today have six healthy children and a seventh on the way.

In his spare time, Martin enjoys hanging out with his family, cycling, piloting, photography and sailing.

He is today the Executive Chairman and Founder of Prelude Fertility and CEO and Founder of Overture Life.

PROFILE

Professionalism, First And Foremost At the Faculty of Political Science in Belgrade, I took the path from a student of journalism to a fully tenured professor. I founded journalism departments at the Faculty of Philosophy in Banja Luka, the Faculty of Music in Belgrade and at ALU. I furthered my studies at London City University

NEDA TODOROVIĆ PH.D., UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR, JOURNALIST, WRITER, EDITOR

I

spent ten years as an associate of news magazine NIN, served as editor-in-chief of Bazar and Jefimija, wrote as a columnist for ELLE magazine... On TV Belgrade I was the author, screenwriter and host of the series ONA [HER], Kino oko [Cinema eye], Nedeljno popodne [Sunday afternoon], Noćni program [Nightly programme], Modni magazin [Fashion warehouse] and Novinarske radionice [Journalism workshops].

I wrote two textbooks for journalism, several collections and several dozen professional and scientific works. I’m the author of a trilogy on the phenomena of modern life: Duh devedesetih [Spirit of the Nineties], Hrana kao drugi seks [Food as Second Sex] (also published in Russia) and Dvehiljadite [The Year Two-Thousand]. My book Ženska štampa i kultura ženstvenosti [Women’s Press and the Culture of Femininity] was declared the best work in the field of mass communication in 1982. I am editor and co-author of the monograph Exceptional Women of Serbia of the 20th and 21st Centuries; Exceptional Couples of Serbia of the 20th and 21st Centuries and

Icons of Style of Serbia of the 20th and 21st Centuries (Zepter Book World, 2016, 2018, 2018). The third of these titles was declared the most beautiful book at last year’s Belgrade International Book Fair.

I played basketball and have a daughter, grandson and a life partner in film director Zdravko Šotra.

I cite biographical information as it’s never easy for me to answer the question of who I am and what I do. I listened to the advice of a professor who said “you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket” and another’s recommendation that “a journalist must educate themselves for life”.

I’m aware that information transferring is today moving closer to the realm of storytelling and that fake news beats the truth. The method from ancient times is in effect: bread and circuses I specialised in so-called women’s issues.

Women now dominate journalism and are among ministers, prime ministers, president of states. Swedish Nobel laureate Dr Jonas Ridderstråle predicts that the 21st century will be the century of women. That presumably comes from Marcuse’s ideas about women’s values – advocacy for peace, the preservation of the planet, helping weak, unprotected and marginal groups – that will have to prevail if

we are to preserve the planet. At present, that seems like a utopian dream to me.

I believe everyone can achieve everything they want, provided they want it enough. But we’re now facing the first generations in the last 200 years to be less educated than their parents! I can see that by the cheap tabloids that students hold while sitting on benches.

Paradoxically, no matter how intolerable the current situation in the media sphere might be, due to minimal competition in the profession, it is easy to make a name in journalism. I would get into journalism again, my daughter graduated in journalism, and I wouldn’t have anything against my four-year-old grandson following in our footsteps.

I’m aware that information transferring is today moving closer to the realm of storytelling and that fake news beats the truth.

The method from ancient times is in effect: bread and circuses. Infantile regression has taken over. That’s because when you have so many uneducated, poor people, anaesthetised with stupid content, it’s easier to silence the small number of critically inclined journalists and media outlets, because they address a insignificant number of highly educated readers. What today, then – when so much is said about so-called ‘citizen journalism’, about every layman being able to publish their personal opinion about everything, regardless of their competence – does it mean to be a journalist? It means that an individual marked with talent must be expertly trained, multimedia proficient, ready to respond to the high standards demanded by the profession in the 21st century. And there’s only ever been one common denominator of genuinely all-time great media workers: top professionalism.

April

51

Contemporary Art: Mexico

Innovative, Vibrant

52

April

& Thriving Artism

Innovative, vibrant and thriving are the words that could describe Mexican art. From pre-Columbian times through today, the art of Mexico makes quite an impression on those who view it. Mexican art history begins with early peoples, such as the Olmecs, Incans, Mayans and Aztecs. These early artists produced works during the 3,000-year period between 1500 BC and 1500 AD

FRIDA KAHLO: ROOTS

F

rom the start of the Mexican Revolution in 1910 to the aftermath of World War II, artists and intellectuals in Mexico were at the center of a great debate about their country’s destiny. During the 1910s, artists in Mexico possessed a spirit of cosmopolitanism and a sense of national belonging. Those who had studied in Europe brought innovative styles back to Mexico City. For Mexican artists, modernism was not simply a matter of being in tune with international Postimpressionism, Art Nouveau, or Cubism.They were interested in creating an aesthetic with a distinctly Mexican character, or mexicanidad, based on national history, traditions, and identity.

The mid-1930s saw a renewal of combative populist and political art. International events continued to affect the Mexican art world at the end of the decade, as the Spanish Civil War and

World War II brought a wave of exiled European artists to Mexico. In the years after World War II, Mexican modernism had a dual legacy. The tradition of political art persisted in the work of figures such as David Alfaro Siqueiros. This coexisted with painting in a more poetic and universalized manner and in tune with international trends in abstract art.

It could be freely said that Mexico has the most recognized art scene of all other Latin American countries. There are several reasons for that, most significant one being the important names in contemporary art coming from Mexico (let us just mention Frida Kahlo or Diego Rivera). Although being under heavy influence of the major European movements, Mexicans did create unique and recognizable styles, such as Mexican Muralism or The Rupture Movement. Finally, Mexican art did remain heavily European in style, but indigenous themes appeared in major works as liberal Mexico sought to distinguish itself from its Spanish colonial past.

Today, Mexico City is a thriving hotbed of artistic talent, with big names like Frida Kahlo having lived and worked there and rising talents like Sofía Castellanos calling it home. As far as contemporary art goes, there are plenty of splendid

examples to choose from, but here are the ten contemporary Mexican artists that we think the you need to know about.

FRIDA KAHLO Perhaps the most iconic Mexican artist, the incomparable Frida Kahlo has to be our first mention. With a back catalogue of almost 150 surviving pieces of art, the majority of which are self-portraits that predominantly hone in on her complex and often tragic life, as well as a cult pop culture reputation, Frida Kahlo is a formidable figure of the Mexican art scene. The house which bore witness to her birth, life and death is now the wildly popular and much frequented museum better known as La Casa Azul.

DIEGO RIVERA Two-time Frida’s husband, Diego Rivera, can’t go without a mention either. This prominent Mexican muralist is so iconic that he even features (as does Frida) on the MXN$500 banknote. His prolific body of work is still to this day on display in both the US and Mexico (amongst other countries) and many of his murals can be seen for free in Mexico City at the Palacio Nacional and the Secretaría de Educación Publica.

LEONORA CARRINGTON Known as Britain’s lost surrealist, Women’s Lib champion Leonora Carrington was a rebellious Lancashire-born artist who despite being little known in her native UK was an impressive figure on the Mexican art scene. One of the last surviving (and one of the most prolific) contributors to Mexican surrealism before her death in

SEBASTIÁN: MEXICO CITY’S CABALLITO

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Contemporary Art: Mexico 2011, her artwork was often revolutionary in its exploration of female sexuality. One of her murals can be seen at the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City.

JOSÉ CLEMENTE OROZCO Allegedly the most complex of the Mexican Muralists, José Clemente Orozco was one of the founding fathers of the movement and heavily influenced by political issues, a theme which is notable throughout his repertoire of murals. Whilst his pieces are spread right across both Mexico, from Jalisco to Michoacán, and the world, from California to NYC, his most famed pieces can be found in the Palacio del Gobierno in Guadalajara and the Hospicio Cabañas.

DAVID ALFARO SIQUEIROS If you’ve visited the impressive, enormous Ciudad Universitaria at one point or another you’ll have more than likely been witness to some of David Alfaro Siqueiros’ work. Along with the aforementioned Rivera and Orozco, he was the third of ‘the big three figures’ in the Mexican Muralism movement and known for his social realist, fresco pieces, including the massive Del porfirismo a la Revolución mural in Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City. Influenced first by cubism, and intensely interested in revolutionary subject matter, Siqueiros’ work is also best summed up as political.

SEBASTIÁN Mexican sculptor Sebastián goes by just one name. Despite his reputation you’ve probably never

LEONORA CARRINGTON:THE MAGICAL WORLD OF THE MAYAS

heard of him, although you will almost certainly have been witness to one of his many sculptures.

Situated in various urban locations all over the world, including his native Mexico, Japan, Buenos Aires and Havana, these massive, predominantly steel or concrete and often geometric sculptures are considered unique to both Mexico and Latin America. Easily his most famous piece is Mexico City’s Caballito.

RUFINO TAMAYO: MURAL DUALIDAD

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LEONORA CARRINGTON: THE CANDLE GAME

GABRIEL OROZCO Gabriel Orozco may not be a relation of the aforementioned José Clemente Orozco but he’s an equally iconic, albeit more recent, Mexican artist. Having dabbled in photography, painting, drawing and sculpture in equal measure, you might be forgiven for thinking he’s merely a Jack of all trades, yet you couldn’t be further from the truth. Often referred to as one of this decade’s most influential artists, you can catch his work at the excellent kurimanzutto gallery in Mexico City.

DIEGO RIVERA: MURAL AT PALACIO NACIONAL DE MEXICO

JOSE DAVID ALFARO SIQUEIROS: SELF-PORTRAIT

JOSÉ CLEMENTE OROZCO: DIVE BOMBER AND TANK

CARLOS ALMARAZ Carlos Almaraz’s street art in particular propelled him to the position of one of the Chicano Art Movement’s leading figures. Having moved to the U.S. at a young age, Almaraz had become increasingly aware of and interested in this multicultural atmosphere and ultimately died as one of the most prominent artists on the scene which aimed to create a separate artistic identity for Chicano’s in the U.S. His work is explosively colourful and was often political.

FANNY RABEL Polish-born Fanny Rabel was a trailblazing figure in Mexican art, and even found her way onto the booming muralism scene in the mid-twentieth century. In fact, many consider her to be the first modern female muralist, and certainly one of the youngest. Either way, she was definitely the only female under the artistic tutelage of her close friend (maybe you’ve heard of her?) Frida Kahlo, and worked with both of the muralist big-hitters, Rivera and Siqueiros during her career. Her mural Ronda en el tiempo can be seen at Mexico’s National Anthropology Museum.

RUFINO TAMAYO With a museum and who knows how many streets named after him across Mexico, Rufino Tamayo was a Oaxacan painter who despite also being influenced by the dominant surrealism themes of the day, rejected the political tendencies of his contemporaries. Instead, his works focussed on depicting traditional Mexico through limited but bold colour palettes. He is equally as memorable for his contributions to graphic arts though; he experimented with woodcuts, etchings and Mixografia amongst other techniques.

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&FACES PLACES 28/2/2019

Japan-EU Trade Relations: What Can Serbia Learn From This Partnership AMBASSADOR ABDUL SAMAH

22/2/2019

Embassy Of Kuwait Celebrates National Day

In the presence of senior officials and diplomats, the Embassy of Kuwait has hosted a celebratory ceremony marking Kuwait’s 58th National Day, 28th Liberation Day and the 13th anniversary of His Highness the Amir’s ascendancy.

H.E. Yousef Ahmad S. Abdul Samah, Ambassador of Kuwait to Serbia paid tribute to the Kuwaiti people’s longstanding national unity and praised developing bilateral relations between Serbia and Kuwait.

Conference “Japan - EU trade relations: What can Serbia learn from this partnership?”, organised by Embassy of Japan and International and Security Affairs Centre (ISAC), gathering members of academia, think tanks, business and official representatives from Japan, EU and Serbia.

The world’s most advanced free trade agreement, as stated by H.E. Akira Kono, Ambassador and Deputy Head of Mission of Japan to the EU, will bring the direct benefits to Serbia when it becomes a member of EU family, but the indirect ones on its path towards EU as well.

By harmonising the set of rules and standards on its way to the EU, Serbia could create a business climate more attractive to potential investors from the EU and Japan. source: jbas

4/3/2019

Statehood Day Of Bulgaria Marked

Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria celebrated the country’s Statehood Day and the 141st anniversary of liberation from the Turks with the reception at the Metropol Hotel in Belgrade. Ambassador of Bulgaria H.E. Radko Vlaykov greeted guests and in his formal address said Bulgaria is convinced that the future of the region is going through integration processes that have no alternative.

H.E. Vlaykov reminded that Bulgaria and Serbia mark the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and underlined that bilateral ties between the two countries are historically the highest level.

Ambassador also mentioned the recent awarding of Prime Minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borisov by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić with the Order of the Republic of Serbia.

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AMBASSADOR VLAYKOV

SEE MORE: WWW.CORDMAGAZINE.COM

4/3/2019

Prime Minister Brnabić Opens 26th Kopaonik Business Forum

PRIME MINISTER BRNABIĆ

Prime Minister Ana Brnabić said at the opening of the 26th Kopaonik Business Forum that Serbia, following hard fiscal consolidation measures, had the fourth straight year of stable public finances, and added that in 2018 had a surplus in the budget of RSD 32.2 billion.

According to Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, Serbia has done a lot to improve the business environment, which is evident if compare position on the Doing Business List of the World Bank then and today, but it is even more important that this is evident in the number and size of investments in Serbia, said Prime Minister.

7/3/2019

Conference “For A Cohesive Europe: Gender Equality And Women’s Rights”

Ambassador of Romania H.E. Oana-Cristina Popa welcomed attendees and said that Romani, as a presiding country of the European Union is very much concerned with values, one of them being gender equality and women’s rights.

EU Ambassador H.E. Sem Fabrizi pointed out that equal rights for men and women is one of the fundamental European values, and added that International Women’s Day on 8th March is an opportunity to celebrate successes in this area, but that it is also an opportunity to reflect on what this global day means.

AMBASSADOR ORLA O’HANRAHAN

12/3/2019

St Patrick’s Day Marked

Ambassador of the Republic of Ireland to Serbia, Greece and Albania H.E. Orla O’Hanrahan welcomed guests at the reception marking St. Patrick’s Day. The celebration was organised as part of the Belgrade Irish Fest, that this year had its seventh edition.

The reception was attended by numerous members of the diplomatic community and fans of Irish culture.

JAS KAMINSKI (RIGHT), BELGRADE IRISH FEST DIRECTOR

AMBASSADOR O’HANRAHAN AND UK AMBASSADOR KEEFE WITH A SPOUSE

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&FACES PLACES 13/3/2019

Competitiveness Boost For Smes In Serbia

Serbian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will have a chance to improve their competitiveness thanks to the newly launched “EU for Serbia – EBRD SME advisory support” program launched in Belgrade.

The programme will help boost competitiveness and build the capacity of Serbian SMEs with tailored advisory support and coaching by local consultants and international advisors. It is supported by the European Union with €2 million from the national Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Serbia.

JELENA PAVLOVIĆ, AMCHAM PRESIDENT

U.S. AMBASSADOR KYLE SCOTT

20/3/2019

AmCham, USAID: Trade Facilitation Conference

EBRD’S REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR THE WB ZSUZSANNA HARGITAI

EU AMBASSADOR SEM FABRIZI

As the largest market in the region, Serbia enjoys the most significant benefit from the reduction of trade barriers – concluded the Trade Facilitation Conference: Progress Report, organised by AmCham and the USAID REG project in Serbia.

“The abolition of non-tariff barriers is a priority in the field of foreign trade for the American Chamber of Commerce and an important assumption for the growth of economic activity. Since the National Coordinating Body for Trade Facilitation was established over a year and a half ago, AmCham has been satisfied that the authorities have recognized the importance of the economy’s requirements and included them in the Action Plans of Working Groups, whose implementation deadline is the end of 2019,” said AmCham President Jelena Pavlović, and added “We believe that the equalisation of foreign trade procedures in the region is a great export opportunity for Serbia, which needs to be built side by side with the simplification of import procedures”.

24/3/2019

Day Of Remembrance For Victims In NATO Aggression Marked

PRIME MINISTER ANA BRNABIĆ WITH AMBASSADORS ANDREA ORIZIO AND SEM FABRIZI

15/3/2019

Open Government Partnership In Serbia

Speaking at the opening of conference Open Government Partnership in Serbia – Openness builds trust, organised within the framework of the Open Management Week, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić said that the principle of open administration that our country follows entails the obligation to involve citizens in decision-making processes that directly affect the quality of their lives.

H.E. Sem Fabrizi, EU Ambassador, said the European Union has invested 80 million euros in strengthening open government, while Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia H.E. Andrea Orizio stressed that, in creating a responsible and transparent government that represents an efficient service to citizens, the role of local governments in applying the principles of the Open Society Partnership at the local level is of paramount importance.

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Prime Minister Ana Brnabić and President Aleksandar Vučić attended the central state ceremony in Niš, marking of the 20th anniversary of the NATO aggression and the Day of Remembrance of the victims in the bombing.

Addressing the gathering, Vučić said that the death of 2,500 civilians during the NATO aggression, and especially 79 children, will always be a crime for us.

President Vučić said that Serbia decided that it will not be part of the NATO Pact, noting that we do not threaten anyone, but only want to protect our country.

My life

Nena Stoiljković, IFC Vice President for Asia and the Pacific

GIVE YOUR BEST IN WHATEVER YOU DO Never cut corners or say that you’ll do something halfway or half-heartedly – this is the philosophy of Nena Stoiljković. It has brought her through many challenges and led her to rewarding positions within the IFC. However, in contrast to the stories of many successful women, she wasn’t forced to sacrifice a family for a stellar career. Still, nobody would say that it was easy for her to strike the right balance: her recent jobs have all been global, requiring lots of travel to Asia and Africa April

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My life

Nena Stoiljković, IFC Vice President for Asia and the Pacific

R

eading even a very condensed professional biography of Nena Stoiljković, the IFC’s Vice President for Asia and Pacific, is a challenging task. She joined the IFC in 1995, serving as an investment officer after having left a position as a consultant at the Economic Institute of Belgrade. Her current position gives her responsibility for all IFC operations in the region, while over the years she’s amassed global experience in development issues like climate change, gender, and fragile and conflict-affected situations, including through her recent role as vice president of blended finance and partnerships.

Stoiljković has a track record of promoting development finance innovation in a variety of IFC leadership roles. She most recently played a key part in the corporation’s efforts to construct new architecture for development finance with other institutions, governments and the private sector. She helped shape the strategy of the World Bank Group, working with the International Development Association (IDA) on a pioneering private sector window to catalyse greater private investment in low-income and conflict-affected countries.

Ms Stoiljković previously co-led the establishment of the World Bank Group’s Global Practices and Cross-cutting Solutions Areas.

This role saw her bring private sector experience into the process of harnessing global expertise to help government clients tackle development challenges. She combines this expertise with strong operational experience in IFC’s investment and advisory businesses through her roles as a joint vice president of IFC operations, vice president of advisory Services, and director for the Europe and Central Asia region.

One could say that this long list of responsibilities is enough for three lives, but Nena Stoiljković has amassed them all throughout one career. In this moving interview, our interlocutor speaks about how she learned to prioritise, which kinds of tasks she finds inspiring and how her family has backed her. But this conversation wouldn’t be a rounded story if we failed to discuss the breathtaking changes taking place in Asia and Africa, financial instruments that are helping businesses and the planet to deal with the climate change, and the chances that this market and the IFC could offer to Serbian

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I encourage young people in Serbia to research the IFC, which focuses on development through private sector investments.

The work is very interesting and high impact companies that are eager to enter these exciting markets. When somebody sees your responsibilities as a VP at the IFC and World Bank, two questions immediately come to mind.

The first is whether your role as a very highly positioned woman in World Bank structures is a sign of gender equality in the WB or rather a more isolated example of personal success; why have we never had a female head of the World Bank, despite there having been no lack of suitable candidates?

You are right. It isn’t easy for any women to get to the top. I see that wherever I go. I participate in many events, meet with lot of clients from

governments and the private sector in many countries, and we still see much fewer women than men. I was very lucky to be employed in an institution that places a high focus on diversity (both gender and national), which made it easier to reach a VP position. At the time I became a vice president of advisory services at IFC, about seven years ago, the President of the World Bank Group set a target of 50 per cent of women in his management team, while the CEO of the IFC followed the same approach. That certainly helped. However, of course, there are many women in the IFC and the fact that I was chosen had to do with my personal experience and career up to that point. I had an opportunity to be one of the very first IFC managers who spent time in the field (Istanbul) and then became a director of the East Europe Region (Moscow), and that was invaluable in advancing to more senior roles in the corporation. So, one thing led to another and being in the right place at the right time was important. The second question would be how you manage to balance your professional responsibilities and private life. Do you enjoy an eight-hour day, 40-hour week schedule within a decent working agenda?

Many women think that the higher up you go, the less time you will have for yourself and your

By Miroslava Nešić - Bikić

My most challenging role was the one at the World Bank, when I was asked to co-manage the newly created Global Practices.

The learning curve was steep, but I wouldn’t give up that experience for anything else

family. I am not of that opinion. I always tried to balance my workload so that I could spend a lot of time with my family, visit my parents and travel around the world with my children.

That required me to be very organised and efficient, and to complete all tasks faster than others, though of course not at the expense of quality. I found that the higher up I went, the easier it became to strike that balance, as I could control my own schedule more, had more people to deliver in the units I managed and had more confidence and experience to make the necessary trade-offs. It helped that I had a very supportive husband who sacrificed his career to support the family and the children, who like the impact of what I do and are proud of what I’ve accomplished. Now that they are aged 20 and 17, they appreciate the experience that the whole family has had thanks to my work, travel and living abroad. Now I work normal hours and have more flexibility, given that most of my team is in Asia, a completely different time zone from Washington DC. When I am in Asia, which is about 10 days per month, I work non-stop and enjoy that pace – the interesting people I meet all the time, as well as being closer to my staff. What is your advice for women who have a busy schedule and great responsibilities:

how can they maintain a work-life balance?

My advice to all people, women and men, is to give their best in whatever they do. Never cut corners or say that you will do something halfway or half-heartedly. Once you are able to say to yourself that you are doing your best, it will be easier to find that balance, which is especially important for women. Being well organised and efficient at work helps. Being deliberate on determining what can be done without you and doing only those things that depend on you is also important. I now skip a lot of meetings where I know I won’t be adding much value. Instead, I focus on projects, meetings, trips where I know that I can move the needle and where my staff need me. I make those choices deliberately, try to catch up with what is going on through other people, and enjoy the happiness of my colleagues when I delegate some important tasks to them. On the family front, I like active weekends and holidays, so that we can really spend quality time together without distractions. As a Serbian national, have you found it difficult to climb the ladder of the World Bank? Are you among the few people from this region who’ve forged a career in the IFC, or we are just not informed about the others?

I actually think that being a Serbian women helped me get into the World Bank Group in 1995. I was definitely a very diverse candidate at that time. Now we have many more Serbians in the World Bank Group. In terms of further advancement, I don’t think that my nationality mattered that much. It was all about doing a good job, moving around the institution and being in the right place at the right time to take advantage of some of the opportunities that came my way. My impression is that young people in Serbia are more familiar with the World Bank than the IFC. I encourage them to research the IFC, which focuses on development through private sector investments. The work is very interesting and high impact. Two people of Serbian origin who spent an important part of their careers at the World Bank are economists Branko Milanović and Duško Vujović. Both of them have been engaged in the Serbian economic scene in their own way. Have you ever thought of being more active in that respect?

Absolutely. I would love to be more engaged in Serbia, but that sometimes hard to do without being there very often. I was very engaged in Serbia during my time in Istanbul (2005-2008), where I managed eight countries in the Balkans, including Serbia, and in Central Asia, and during my time in Moscow (2008-2011), when I was a director of the Europe and Central Asia region, with responsibility for overseeing all IFC activities in Serbia and another 20+ countries.

My recent jobs have all been global and required

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My life

Nena Stoiljković, IFC Vice President for Asia and the Pacific

a lot of travel to Asia and Africa, and there I had to find the right balance in terms of my professional and personal life. You have experience in all IFC business lines. Which role have you found the most challenging to date?

You are right – I have changed jobs at the IFC very often and thus gained very broad experience.

Every time I was asked to step into a new role as a VP, I felt that it would be a stretch. There was always a period of learning, adjusting and meeting new people. My most challenging role was the one in the World Bank, when I was asked by the President to co-manage the newly created Global Practices, together with one of the bank’s VPs. Our role was to set up a completely new structure for 14 Global Practices, where we had 5,600 people around the world; to hire all 14 new directors and develop new processes and systems. This was

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the biggest change ever at the World Bank and it was very challenging for me, given that I came into a different culture from the IFC. The learning curve was steep, but I wouldn’t give up that experience for anything else. It made me a stronger person and a better leader. In one of these roles you were in charge of IFC’s climate business strategy. Could you tell us more about the potential of new climate-smart investment opportunities to impact on the pace of climate change?

We have several IFC backed investments of that kind in Serbia, but we would like to understand the bigger picture.

Institutions like mine focus a lot on climate change, as we have instruments (both advisory and investment) to help address it. Globally, the biggest trend we now see is in renewable energy. Solar and wind energy are now important components in many national energy plans.

The private sector is more engaged and can make money on these projects, while financing under favourable terms is increasingly available.

Another important area is green buildings, where we can have a great impact on energy efficiency. We also see more municipal projects related to water and waste, which also impact positively on climate. The IFC places a priority on climate-friendly projects and supports them with a range of instruments, including green bonds. I am very pleased that we had one of the pioneering waste to energy PPP projects in Belgrade. I use this example in Asia, where we have yet to enter that space. The IFC has also supported a wind energy project in Serbia. The world of finance has obviously changed, and the IFC’s role in supporting smart solutions has changed accordingly.

To what extent are you involved in this process, and in which phases?

By Miroslava Nešić - Bikić

policy side for climate. I am now involved in the climate component of all projects in Asia.

Our annual programme of new investments in Asia is around $7 billion, with more than 35% of that classified as climate. We plan to further grow this business segment. As someone responsible for the IFC’s portfolio and new business in the Asia and Pacific region, could you tell us how often the IFC supports the interests of Asian companies in gaining a foothold in our part of the world?

This is very much our priority, as we see lots of companies from China, India, Indonesia and Thailand that are interested in overseas expansion. Many of them still focus on nearby countries, but they are increasingly going to Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

I believe we can bring some of them to Serbia. There are many discussions about the possibilities of the new global financial storm. How do these warnings impact on your lending strategy in Asia, which experienced one of the most devastating financial crises in the recent past?

The World Bank Group is involved in dialogue with governments on their climate action plans and the necessary regulatory changes that will stipulate climate smart investments at the country level. The IFC is involved with private sector companies that invest in climate smart projects in those countries. We have supported, in terms of debt and equity, many renewable energy companies, retail and real estate companies that adopt green building standards and climate smart agribusiness projects. The IFC has financed a number of banks that on-lend to their clients for green projects. For those banks, we have also provided advisory services to educate the banks on how to lend for climate smart projects. The IFC has also supported many financial institutions worldwide in the issuance of green bonds.

In my previous IFC role I was involved in climate strategy development and defining collaboration with the World Bank on the

It is true that we are entering an economic slowdown globally, but also in Asia. China’s slowdown will have an impact on regional growth. Nevertheless, Asia will continue to grow, albeit at slightly slower rates. Development challenges in Asia are significant – from a lack of infrastructure and connectivity, through human development needs, to the inclusion of people in remote areas and providing them with access to finance and other services. Those needs will require financing and innovative solutions coming mostly from the private sector. So, I see a great role for the IFC and its partners in making a significant impact in Asia by helping the countries address these challenges and by bringing the necessary knowhow and financing. From a lender’s perspective, would you say that the sectors you are working with are today more resilient against any new financial crisis than they were in 2003 and 2008?

The IFC is a long-term partner to private sector clients and we assess them on the basis of their long-term prospects. Our focus is on

infrastructure, agribusiness, financial inclusion, health and education – sectors that will have to grow over the long term. We assess each company on its own merits and support local clients with our knowledge and experience, including on how to mitigate the economic slowdown and deal with the crisis. We have a very healthy portfolio in Asia right now, and I believe that – with the experience gained in previous crises – the IFC is now better able to make the right choices of clients and support them in the long run with more diverse financial instruments. Some of them include risk reduction and capacity building to help companies

It would be great to see more Serbian companies expand in Asia. The IFC can help them connect with the right partners.

Whenever companies go into new countries, it is important for them to understand the local dynamics implement their investments and address any sector-specific inefficiencies. Some Serbian companies are today extensively seeking opportunities to start doing business on Asian markets, primarily those of China and Indonesia. What would be your word of advice for them?

It would be great to see more Serbian companies expand in Asia. The IFC can help them connect with the right partners. Whenever companies go into new countries, it is important for them to understand the local dynamics, politics and value chains, so having a local partner is a good idea. I believe that Serbian companies can be competitive in Asia and that they should be seeking new markets both in Asia and Africa, where we will see the highest growth over the next decade.

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CHILL OUT CHINA

KFC Dedicates Restaurant To Memory Of Communist Hero

SOUTH AFRICA

Devil In The Details

Fast-food chain KFC is memorialising a popular Chinese Communist hero with restaurant decor extolling his deeds, in a rare matching of an iconic American brand with Communist propaganda. The company launched its first “Lei Feng Spirit” restaurant in Lei’s home province of Hunan ahead of official remembrance day for the soldier who died in 1962 at the age of 21. The KFC restaurant in the provincial capital of Changsha is decorated with Lei’s writings and image. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Lei Feng has been the role model for generations of Chinese. KFC (outlet) in his hometown, will spare no effort to promote his spirit,” said He Min, general manager for KFC’s Hunan region.

Pastor Alph Lukau of Alleluia International Ministries in Johannesburg, South Africa, is facing lawsuits after a stunt in which he appeared to resurrect a dead man. Video of the incident shows Lukau placing his hands on the man’s stomach as he lay in the coffin, when suddenly, the man begins to gasp for air and sits up. “Can you see what happened!?”

Lukau exclaims in the video. “This man died since (sic) last week, he was in the mortuary. Devil, I told you wherever I find you, I will kick you out!” Fellow pastor Rochelle Kombou added that Lukau “completed the miracle by praying, because prayer is the key.” The lawsuits, meanwhile, stem from the misrepresentation of the situation to three funeral parlors, whose services were sought by church officials. A coffin was bought from one, and the hearse was later hired from another.

BRAZIL

Amazon Whale Early this week, marine biologists in Brazil were stunned to find a humpback whale washed 50-feet ashore on a remote island in the mouth of the Amazon River. The 10-tonne whale would have been a rare sight off the tropical coast, as both humpback populations in the Atlantic usually only head to warm waters near the equator to give birth. Scientists theorize it may have become sick and then gotten very disoriented and lost. As to how it got so far ashore, experts believe the high tides caused by the recent super snow moon may have been to blame.

FINLAND

FRANCE

Dances With Whales One Breath Around the World is the latest aquatic spectacle from the French freediving champion Guillaume Néry, and his partner, the French freediver, underwater filmmaker and dancer Julie Gautier. Without the aid of supplied air, Néry plunges into the ocean’s hidden depths, revealing remarkable views of marine geology and wildlife around the globe.

Seamlessly transitioning between a range of underwater realms, the video gives the impression that Néry’s journey is taken in a single breath.

With stunning camerawork by Gautier, who also held her breath while filming, the duo prove themselves expert explorers of not only water, but space and perspective as well, making these grand underwater landscapes appear almost alien.

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Helsinki Ice Cream Hotel Finnish dairy cooperative Valio and hotel Klaus K Helsinki have opened an ice cream-themed hotel room, the first of its kind in the world.

The ice cream suite has been named the Sweet Suite, and it is available for reservation from March to September. It is located at the heart of Helsinki. Interior design was provided by interior designers Anna Pirkola and Kirsikka Simberg.

The Valio Jäätelöfabriikki Sweet Suite, named after Valio’s ice cream brand, includes all-you-can-eat ice cream.

Valio said Helsinki is a natural choice for an ice cream-themed suite, as Finns consume the most ice cream in Europe per capita. This spring, Valio is introducing four new flavors in Finland: chocolate, lemon curd, passion fruit-coconut, and apple-oat pie.

HONG KONG

Silver Heritage Showcases Tiger Palace VIP Area Hong Kong headquartered Silver Heritage Group has debuted its new range of VIP gaming facilities at its Tiger Palace Resort, reports Inside Asian Gaming.

Coming in conjunction with the one year anniversary of its official casino launch, Silver Heritage’s building and opening of the property marked South Asia’s first integrated resort, located in Bhairahawa, close to the border with India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh.

Tiger Palace’s new VIP area incorporates 140m2 spread over three VIP rooms and incorporating a range of high limit slots, 11 gaming tables, lobby lounge and private dining area. It is spread across 22 acres of land and offering 100 rooms and suites.

ITALY

Battle Of The Oranges Thousands of people took to the streets of an Italian village to pelt each other with fruit as part of the annual Battle of the Oranges.

Officials said more than 500 tonnes of oranges were imported from Sicily to Ivrea for the annual event, which is part of the Carnival of Ivrea.

Local legend holds that a young girl decapitated a tyrannical baron in the 12th century when he attempted to coerce her into sex on the night before her wedding. The girl paraded the baron’s head through the town, sparking a peasant uprising, the story states.

Each year a girl is chosen to portray “Violetta,” the girl from the story, and lead the event. The food fight is scheduled to last for a total three days.

USA

Man Survives On Taco Sauce Jeremy Taylor and his dog Ally had set off to buy petrol in Oregon when they got stuck due to the weather and while they planned to stay in the vehicle overnight, they woke to find the conditions had got even worse.

The 36-year-old man tried to walk out but the snow was too deep and later told police they had survived by periodically starting the car engine and tucking into the few packaged condiments he had in the vehicle. Officers said Jeremy and his dog were found by a snowmobile rider five days later and were in ‘’good condition but hungry’’.

JAPAN

Girls’ Day Celebration Hinamatsuri is one of Japan’s most beautiful unofficial holidays; a day on which Japanese households with young daughters decorate their homes with ornamental dolls (hina dolls) on red-cloth covered platforms. The dolls are said to be representing the emperor, empress, attendants, and musicians in traditional court dress of the Heian period Nowadays, most families with daughters decorate their homes with usually five to seven-tiered platforms of hina dolls. Traditionally, parents or grandparents of a newborn girl will buy a set of hina dolls decorations for the baby’s first Hinamatsuri.

Families take the decorations down immediately after Hinamatsuri as superstition claims that keeping the dolls up past March 4 will result in late marriage for the daughters.

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The Sneakers

Revolution NIKE

Air Max 98 leopard print sneakers €155

TOD’S Touch-strap sneakers

The mainstream footwear of the fashion world today has shifted to sneakers matched with dresses, Vintage gym shoes with formal business suits, and the wedding guest look made of mesh and rubber, not genuine leather.

Luxury purses are no longer must-haves in the world of high fashion here, but sneakers are.

But is this sneakers phenomenon happening in association with the “well-being” trend or is this just a contemporary fashion trend that will be replaced by something that looks cooler soon?

The sneakers boom is not just a fashion trend.

It signifies paradigm transitions in lifestyle and industry.

The boundaries between genders, age, social classes and the differences between high-fashion and street fashion are becoming blurry.

Denying the traditional notion of standard beauty, fashion leaders today are seeking something “ugly” or unique and unexpectedly fun by mixing elements that are somewhat heterogeneous.

The number of artisans for designer shoe brands has declined significantly. They don’t care whether they are mass-produced Nike or handmade Berluti as long as they look cool.So, people love contemporary items with prints and industrial.

So-called “sneakerisation”reflects that the luxury fashion houses are moving on.

In the last two seasons, we’ve seen menswear designers shake up the suit and creatively pair them with colourful sneakers. On paper, it doesn’t seem to work, but in reality, it can be an effortless to change up your suit – if you know how to properly wear your sneakers with your suit.

€417

FENTY X PUMA Bow sneakers €139

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Women’s Suit With Sneakers The power suit aka mens wear, aka women do it better is a trend that has been around for sometime.

Pale Blue Suit €470

Trousers with belt Cropped trousers with high waist and belt. Belt in the same fabric with metal buckle and 5 pockets. €83

MIU MIU Leather and glitter fabric sneakers €477

Double Stretch Cotton Pant The essential everyday pant comes with a hook bar and zip closure, belt loops, and slash pockets. Offered in premium Italian cotton that’s engineered with a double weave. €285

Blue Suit Combined With White Sneakers For men who like to dress well, nothing can BURBERRY Tri-tone perforated check sneakers €614

compete with a blue suit . If combined with a blue shirt in another tone, the navy blue suits will make you stand out from the crowd. €380

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Culture

calendar

International Jazz Day: “Azure” Ulrich Drechsler & Dejan Ilijić 30 – 21.00 - Youth Center of Belgrade

International Jazz Day is celebrated all over the world on 30th April, as an official UNESCO holiday. The Belgrade Youth Center and the Belgrade Jazz Festival since 2012 celebrate this day with jazz concerts whose mission is to popularise this type of music. The concert on the occasion of the International Jazz Day is the first in a series of activities to meet the jubilee 35th Belgrade Jazz Festival, organised by the Youth Center of Belgrade and under the patronage of the City of Belgrade, to be held from 22nd to 27th October 2019. As in previous years, the audience will have the opportunity to enjoy music by over 20 performers from all over the world, as well as from the domestic jazz scene.

This year, for the International Jazz Day, we present to the audience an exceptional, double music program, showing all the diversity of jazz as a piece of art music, exciting and up-to-date in 21stcentury musical flows, close to all generations. Ulrich Drechsler and Peter Zirbs, the bearers of the most current music streams from the Austrian scene, will present an exciting duo Azure, and one of the key Serbian jazz musicians of the new generation, while the EYOT leader, Dejan Ilijić, will premiere promote his new piano solo album “DYAD”.

“Closer to Maximian” film

5 April – National Museum – 20:50

As a part of the 10th International Archaeological Film Review, the film “Closer to Maximian” will be screened on Friday, 5th April at 8:50pm in the National Museum in Belgrade, which follows the second excavation campaign at the archaeological site of Glac within the project of the Archeology Institute in Belgrade and the University of Sydney. The project is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia, the Embassy of Australia in Belgrade, the Provincial Secretariat for Culture and the city of Sremska Mitrovica.

BFI 2019 - Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company, Germany 11- Sava Centre – 20.00

Spirits of Africa

until 15 April – Museum of African Art The exhibit features traditional ritual art from the Museum of African Art collections. The ritual art from West Africa forms the thematic basis of the exhibition. West Africa is a specific cultural and historical area in which numerous art traditions flourished – as exemplified by notable art pieces in the MAA collections. The creativity of African communities is most visible in art works made in a ritual context, which reflect the richness of the spiritual world and the strength of people’s beliefs.

African folk sculpture gained worldwide recognition during the 20th century thanks to its expressiveness and creative achievements, which secured its status as ”classical” African art.

The objects chosen for display are linked to religious practices and spiritual beliefs. Various spirits, ranging from ancestor figures to celestial spouses, agricultural mythical heroes or tutelary spirits are depicted on masks, sculptures, wooden figurines, amulets, textiles and a hunter attire. The exhibit showcases circa fifty ritual objects originating among West African peoples: the Baga, Ashanti, Dogon, Bamana, Yoruba, Senufo, Baule, Dan, Bobo, Mossi.

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The Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company is based in equal measure in the cities of Dresden and Frankfurt am Main. Internationally acclaimed choreographer Jacopo Godani serves as artistic director of the company. The repertoire of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company consists primarily of works by Godani. His goal is the production of a vibrant new choreographic language, one that requires virtuosity in its expression while posing physical challenges to the performers.

The choreography is a visual architecture - a construction that seems uncomplicated but has an incredible amount of information within itself. Searching for an unconventional situation in which to challenge the body with ideas, Godani develops a sophisticated allusion to the geometry of classical dance from a contemporary frame of mind…

Exhibition Unfinished Word 3-30 April – Istituto Cervantres

Belgrade Photo Month presents the project “Unfinished Word” which deals with language constructions and language use, on 20 photographs.

Photographic work by Spanish artist García de Marina (Gijón, 1975) provokes “what is real”, transforms and prints identities to objects, rises above the obvious, and emphasizes the uniqueness of everyday life. The artist does not perform any manipulation in photographs, but transforms objects by creating scenography, looking for the best perspective to take pictures of them.

At this exhibition, the basic element is the use of letters and numbers in the author - viewer dialog. Photographs show the work of the author from its beginnings in 2011, until the last exhibition he made in 2018 with the works of the visual poet Joan Brossa (1911-1998) at the Barhola Museum in Gijón.

The official opening will be held on 2nd April at 19.00 at the Cervantes Institute.

Opening Photo Exhibitions “Living Night of the City”

until 13th April - French Institute, Novi Sad On the occasion of marking the Francophonie Month 2019, the French Institute in Novi Sad invited all amateur and professional photographers to seek inspiration in the works of the famous Hungarian-French photographer Đule Halas, better known under the artist’s name Brašaj, to discover the “poetics of the night” of his own city!

“The night hints, but does not reveal. It releases the forces within us that have been suppressed for a reason during the day ... I asked for poetry of fog that changes people, the poetry of the night that changes the city, the poetry of time that transforms all human beings.”

Join the opening of the exhibition to discover the best photos of this photo contest - your photos created during the night stroll, which reveal the secret life of the city visible only under the dim light of the night!

Exhibition “Bernini School and Roman Baroque.

Masterpiece from the Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia “ until 26th May - National Museum in Belgrade

In 2019, 140 years have elapsed since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Italy and Serbia, and 10 years since the establishment of a strategic partnership between Rome and Belgrade. On this occasion, at the National Museum in Belgrade, an exhibition “Bernini School and Roman Baroque” will be organised. Masterpiece from the Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia” includes 55 significant works. The exhibition is also organised in the year when the National Museum marks 175 years of existence.

The exhibition makes a collection of Baroque art that represents Rome as the main seat of its expansion and Giovan Lorenzo Bernini as one of the most important Baroque artists in general. The exhibition will feature works by Baroque masters including Pietro da Cortona, il Borgognone, Salvator Rosa, Giovanni Battista Gaulli, Cavalier d’Arpino, Giacinto Gimignani, Mattia Preti, Andrea Pozzo, as well as French and Flemish artists who have stayed in Rome time. In addition to historical, allegorical and religious and mythological painting, the exhibition also offers examples of various genres that have been loved by clients of that era: portrait, landscape and preliminary design for large decorative frescoes. The Palace Collection in Ariccia is related to the noble family Kisi, whose name is wearing, the family of bankers from Siena, which was among the most important in Rome in the 17th century, and ultimately reflects the international climate of the eternal city of that period.

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RECOMMENDS

RAW SPIRIT Iain Banks 165rsd

A fascinating journey through Scotland’s famous distilleries with legendary author Iain Banks No true Scotsman can resist the allure of the nation’s whisky distilleries. In an interesting voyage as interesting to non-drinkers as to true whisky connoisseurs, sci-fi and literary author Iain Banks explores the rich heritage of Scottish whisky, from the largest and most famous distilleries to the smallest, most obscure operations.

Whisky is more than a drink: it’s a culture, a binder that joins together people, places and products far across Scotland’s rugged terrain. Switching from cars to ferries to bicycles, Banks crisscrosses his homeland, weaving a gripping narrative from the strange people, fascinating traditions, and downright bizarre places he encounters on his journey down Scotland’s great golden road.

THE KING OF TORTS John Grisham 1490rsd

The Office of the Public Defender is not known as a training ground for bright young litigators. Clay Carter has been there too long, and, like most of his colleagues, dreams of a better job in a real firm. When he reluctantly takes the case of a young man charged with a random street killing, he assumes it is just another of the many senseless murders that hit Washington D.C. every week.

But as he digs deeper into his client’s background, Clay stumbles upon a conspiracy too horrible to believe. A pharmaceutical giant has been secretly and illegally testing a new drug on addicts – one that helps stop addiction, but which drives them to random acts of violence.

Overnight, aided by a mysterious whistleblower with an agenda of his own, Clay becomes the new ‘king of torts’, a celebrity among lawyers and a national media figure.

But as the financial stakes rise and rise, so does the danger...

MICK JAGGER: THE PHOTOBOOK

Francois Hebel 1339rsd

The retrospective of portraits of Mick Jagger, one of the worlds most photographed performers, was a highlight of the 2010 Arles photography festival. This book gathers together all the photographs from that exhibition, introduced by the Festivals director, François Hébel. Hébel writes, In order to consider the rock portrait, we have chosen to focus on different unities: unity of face, in the form of Mick Jagger, and unity of genre the posed portrait, as opposed to stage photography or candid shots.’

Published to coincide with the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition in May 2011, the book spans Jagger’s entire career, from Mankowitz’s portraits of the young artist in the 1960s and Cecil Beaton’s on set shots from Performance to Anton Corbijn’s shoot for Rolling Stone in 2005. The book includes photographs by Bryan Adams, Kevin Cummins, Karl Lagerfeld, Annie Leibovitz, Terry O’Neill, Herb April 69 Ritts, Ethan Russell, Andy Warhol and many more.

AFTER WORK 25 AMCHAM ELECTS FEB NEW BOARD DIRECTORS The American Chamber of Commerce - AmCham elected new members of the Managing Board of Directors and presented the award for excellence to geneticist Miodrag Stojković.

At the General Assembly held at the National Museum in Belgrade, the AmCham presented Chamber’s 2018 results. AmCham members voted Biljana Bujić (KPMG) as Secretary-Treasurer and Dragan Lupšić (Coca-Cola HBC Serbia) for the twoyear mandate on the Board of Directors.

AMBASSADOR SEM FABRIZI

26 2.5 MILLION EUROS FOR SCIENCE, FEB INNOVATION AND TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY IN SERBIA

AMCHAM BOD MEMBERS

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, the Innovation Fund, the EU Delegation to Serbia and the World Bank marked the completion of the Project for Support to Research, Innovation and Transfer of Technology in Serbia, funded with €2.5 million from EU pre-accession funds (IPA) for 2013, and implemented in cooperation with the World Bank.

European Union Ambassador H. E. Sem Fabrizi said that business needs knowledge and that science and the economy have so far been developing separately in Serbia, and now they should finally be connected.

Head of the World Bank Office in Serbia Stephen Ndegw said the project was very successful and announced that the World Bank would continue to help Serbia.

28 FEB THE DAY OF FINNISH CULTURE Ambassador of Finland H.E. Pertti Ikonen hosted a concert at the Residence marking the Day of Finnish Culture.

Concert of Finnish Music was performed by Uki Ovaskainen, a Finnish pianist, and was attended by members of the diplomatic community and friends of the Embassy of Finland in Belgrade.

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STEPHEN NDEGW AMBASSADOR PERTTI IKONEN AND UKI OVASKAINEN

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MILICA LUNDIN (LEFT) PRESIDENT OF IWC

05 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S MAR CLUB MARCH GATHERING International Women’s Club had its March gathering in the residence of Mexican Ambassador. In the lovely ambient, decorated with art objects and Mexican artefacts, ladies had their usual Coffee Morning combined with a program of the activity group called “National Profiles”.

This group, or IWC section, gather around presentations of specific features of Countries represented by the members of the Club. Presentation of Mexico consisted of typical Mexican refreshments followed by films and books, photo shoots of IWC members in traditional clothing items and Mexican music.

The presentation was initiated by Mrs Eloisa Mendez, kind hostess of this Coffee Morning and coordinator of this particular section.

07 EXHIBITION “BERNINI MAR SCHOOL AND ROMAN BAROQUE. MASTERPIECES FROM THE PALAZZO CHIGI IN ARICCIA” OPENED Italian exhibition “Bernini School and Roman Baroque. Masterpieces from the Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia” was opened in the National Museum by Vladan Vukosavljević, Minister of Culture and Information of Serbia.

Ambassador of Italy to Serbi H.E. Carlo Lo Cascio said at the opening of the exhibition “This exhibition marks 140 years of diplomatic relations between Italy and Serbia and it forms part of a rich program and continued cooperation in the field of culture. Other initiatives aimed at contributing to the development of joint activities will soon follow.”

The exhibition of masterpieces from the Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia, a town near Rome, includes 55 important works and will run until 26th May.

AMBASSADOR BELHAJ

06 EMBASSY OF MOROCCO CELEBRATES MAR FRANCOPHONIE MONTH Marking the Month of the Francophonie Moroccan Ambassador to Serbia H.E. Mohammed Amine Belhaj hosted a conference on the works of one of the greatest contemporary Moroccan painters and novelists Mahi Binebine.

The conference held at the National Library of Serbia attracted many fans of Moroccan culture, who had the opportunity to learn more about Binebine, a mathematician who later devoted himself to painting, sculpture and writing.

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AFTER WORK 07 EMBASSY OF SLOVAKIA HOSTS MAR CONFERENCE ON SOLID WASTE AND WASTEWATER

At the Embassy of the Slovak Republic an expert meeting “Forum of New Investment Opportunities for Technological Solutions for Solid Waste and Wastewater” was held, which was organised by the Embassy with the support of the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the Republic of Serbia. The meeting was opened

by Ivan Karić, State Secretary at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Dagmar Repčekova, Ambassador of Slovakia to Serbia. Many companies from Slovakia, who have long been involved in the issue of wastewater removal and sewage treatment, have been given the opportunity to present their work to numerous experts and representatives of local governments, chambers of commerce, public companies, etc.

07 CROATIAN BUSINESS MAR CLUB ADOPTS 2019 GOALS At the first annual General Assembly held in the presence of the Croatian Ambassador H.E. Gordan Bakota, members of the Croatian Business Club confirmed aims of strengthening collaboration through joint activities with the Croatian Chamber of Commerce representatives in the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Serbia, as well as establishing cooperation with the scientific-professional community.

Expansion of collaboration with foreign chambers and business associations, participation in conferences on international cooperation, Club’s gatherings aimed at attracting new members were some of the main activities planned for 2019.

AMBASSADOR DAGMAR REPČEKOVA AND IVAN KARIĆ

07 EMBASSY OF EGYPT HELD A MAR CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO UN PEACEKEEPING COURSES

AMBASSADOR MONDOLONI WITH GOOD FRANCE CHEFS

15 MAR GOOD FRANCE 2019

In the Series of the GeNyVa Gatherings and in honour of the annual UN Peacekeeping Courses organised by Conflux Centre, Embassy of Egypt headed by Ambassador H.E. Amr Aljowaily hosted a seminar and a cocktail with Simona Miculescu, Representative of UN Secretary General, as one of the honorary speakers.

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Good France returned to Belgrade, for the world’s biggest event of the French gastronomy in over 150 countries! The annual Good France (Goût de France) event was held from 18 to 24 March, when French specialities were offered in 15 Belgrade restaurants and one from Zrenjanin.

French Ambassador H.E. Frédéric Mondoloni presented in his residence the chefs that participated in the event.

“This year, 5,000 chefs around the world will present their menus of the French gastronomy,” ambassador Mondoloni said.

This international event, which was first launched in 2015, was organised following the inclusion of the “Gastronomic Meal of the French” in the UNESCO World Intangible Heritage list.

The objective is to celebrate French cuisine, its traditions, and its values during a grand gastronomic evening on the same date, all over the world.

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19 MAR EMBASSY OF INDIA MARKS ITEC DAY Ambassador of India H.E. Subrata Bhattacharjee hosted a reception on 19th March 2019 at the Embassy residence to mark the day of the Indian EconomicTechnical Cooperation (ITEC) program.

Indian Ambassador presented the ITEC program which has an important goal of transfer of knowledge and emphasised that it represents an essential pillar of bilateral cooperation with Serbia.

AMBASSADOR CARLO LO CASCIO

18 SERBIAN-ITALIAN SUSTAINABLE MAR DEVELOPMENT GOALS Italian Ambassador H.E. Carlo Lo Cascio and Prof. Dr Ivanka Popović, Rector of the University of Belgrade, opened the Serbian-Italian meeting on the goals of sustainable development.

The Embassy of Italy organised the meeting, the Italian Culture Institute, the University of Belgrade, the Serbian branch of the Roman Club and the Association of Italian and Serbian Scientists and Scholars - AIS3, and is dedicated to topics that are firmly related to our wellbeing, as well as the benefit of future generations.

AMBASSADOR SUBRATA BHATTACHARJEE

20 ITALIAN DESIGN DAY MAR MARKED IN BELGRADE “Italy promotes design as one of the central aspects of the concept of Living the Italian Way,” Italian Ambassador Carlo Lo Cascio said at the opened the Italian Design Day, at the Museum of Science and Technology in Belgrade, titled “Design and the City of the Future. Quality of life and new housing borders”.

This year’s Italian Design Day aims to highlight the link between Italian design and improving the quality of life in urban areas, contributing to a global discussion that will be featured at Expo 2020 in Dubai and the XXII International Exhibition of Triennial in Milan.

This year, the format of “100 ambassadors of Italian design for 100 cities” was launched, in which 100 professional designers, architects, urban planners, businessmen and docents represent the Italian design of 100 world events. As part of this initiative, the Embassy of Italy in Belgrade is presenting the works of the architect Matteo Fantoni.

AMBASSADOR FRÉDÉRIC MONDOLONI, DRAGOLJUB DAMLJANOVIĆ, PRESIDENT OF CCFS AND SANJA IVANIĆ, CCFS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

18 FRENCH-SERBIAN CHAMBER OF MAR COMMERCE GENERAL ASSEMBLY The traditional General Assembly of the French-Serbian Chamber of Commerce (CCFS) held at the premises of the French Institute in Belgrade was honoured with the presence of Ambassador of France H.E. Frédéric Mondoloni.

French-Serbian Chamber of Commerce members unanimously adopted an annual activity report and financial report for the past year, as well as a budget and action plan for 2019.

The Assembly voted two new members of the Board of Directors of the Chamber: Dragan Stokić (Atos), Eric Fani (Streit Groupe).

AMBASSADOR CARLO LO CASCIO OPENED 3RD ITALIAN DESIGN DAY

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AFTER WORK

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20 AMBASSADOR SCHIEB MAR HOSTS GERMANY-SERBIA FOOTBALL MATCH VIEWING

German Ambassador to Serbia H.E. Thomas Schieb hosted a viewing event of the football match between Germany and Serbia at his Senjak residence. The friendly match held in Wolfsburg was enthusiastically followed in the company of Ambassador Schieb by Minister of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs, Zoran Đorđević, Swiss Ambassador H.E. Philippe Guex, Canada Ambassador H.E. Kati Csaba and EU Ambassador H.E. Sam Fabrizi.

ZAFEIRIOS LAMPADARIDIS

21 PRESENTATION OF THE EU MAR FUNDS IN PARTICULAR SECTORS

AMBASSADORS SCHIEB, CSABA, FABRIZI

23 RUSSIA CONFIRMS ASSISTANCE MAR ON COMPLETION OF THE ST SAVA TEMPLE MOSAIC

The Hellenic Business Association of Serbia, in cooperation with the Embassy of Greece and the Delegation of the European Union, organised a presentation on the topic “EU Funds in Particular Sectors”.

The Minister Counsellor for Economic and Commercial Affairs and the Head of the Department of Economic and Commercial Affairs in the Greek Embassy, Charalampos Kounalakis, welcomed the attendees and stressed the importance of informing all Greek companies on the topic of EU Funds in Particular Sectors.

The President of the Management Board of the HBA, Zafeirios Lampadaridis, emphasised the importance of implementation of such presentations for entrepreneurs.

Yngve Engströmom, Head of Cooperation and Valentina di Sebastiano, Programme Manager of the EU Delegation to Serbia, presented the EU projects and programs in Serbia by sectors and areas.

At the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Belgrade, a formal ceremony was held with the signing of an agreement on the continuation of Russian participation in the works on the interior mosaic decoration of St. Sava Temple.

The signing of the agreement between the Serbian Orthodox Church and Gazprom Neft was attended by Russian Ambassador H.E. Aleksandar Chepurin, the Eleonora Mitrofanova Head of the Federal Agency Rossotrudnichestvo, His Holiness Patriarch Irinej, Minister Nenad Popović.

CHARALAMPOS KOUNALAKIS

SIGNING CEREMONY

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YNGVE ENGSTRÖMOM

Partner

MOROCCO

A LAND OF OPPORTUNITIES A Pole Of Stability And Sustainable Growth

His Majesty the King Mohammed VI

“Today, we are witnessing the dawn of a new revolution - one in which we seek to rise to the challenge of completing the construction of modern Morocco; a revolution through which we aim to give Moroccans the place they deserve in life�

Speech to the Nation, August 20th, 2018

Solar Plant Complex Noor II and III Ouarzazate

INTERVIEW

MOHAMMED SAJID Moroccan Minister of Tourism, Air Transport, Handicrafts and Social Economy

Morocco: One Of The World's Best Tourist Destinations Morocco welcomed 12.3 million tourists in 2018, enabling the country to position itself as the top African destination and the world's 35th most popular tourist destination

T

he development of tourist flows to Morocco is our ultimate goal, and we are looking forward to increasing our connectivity with the region - Mohammed Sajid. • Morocco is a tourist country par excellence, with more than 12.3 million tourists having visited Morocco in 2018. With regard to the tourism sector's strategic "Vision 2020" plan, can we talk about the "Success Story"of Tourism in Morocco, or are statistics not yet up to the expected objectives?

- Tourism occupies a priority place in Morocco's economy and plays a vital role in

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its territorial, economic and social development. It was among the first sectors to be endowed, following the impetus of His Majesty the King may God assist Him, with a series of proactive and ambitious sector-specific strategies, the first of which dates back to the early 2000s.

With a direct contribution to GDP of around seven per cent, more than 550,000

direct jobs and total expenditures of around 132 billion dirhams in 2018, more than 90 billion of which were spent in foreign currencies, tourism is, more than ever, at the centre of calculations of our country's economic and social development. This dynamism allowed Morocco to welcome 12.3 million tourists in 2018, a million more than in 2017, which enabled it to this year

After our establishing of direct flights to Budapest, Vienna and Warsaw, we expect Belgrade to be part of this gradual process, and I hope very soon

PRIORITY

TOURIST

HANDICRAFTS

Tourism occupies a priority place in Morocco's economy and plays a vital role in its territorial, economic and social development

Morocco welcomed 12.3 million tourists in 2018, a million more than in 2017

We strive to double our efforts to ensure all the factors and conditions of success necessary for development are placed in the service of handicrafts sector

consolidate its position as the top African destination and maintain its ranking as the 35th worldwide.

• Following the entry into force of the air transport cooperation agreement between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Serbia, the number of Serbian tourists visiting Morocco has tripled in the last two years, despite the absence of a direct aviation route. Do you not think it's time to established direct flights with Belgrade, which could also simultaneously serve the other countries of the Western Balkans?

- The increase of tourist flows to Morocco is our ultimate goal, and in this sense strengthening Morocco's aviation connectivity and its accessibility is at the heart of our concerns. The cooperation agreement in the air transport sector signed between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Serbia is the perfect illustration of that, as it demonstrates our determination to open up entirely to this strategic region. That is important for us and has allowed several aviation links between the countries of the region and Morocco to be established

generation, is starting to inspire today's great designers?

- As you know, the Kingdom of Morocco has an age-old history and is located at the crossroads of many cultural, ethnic, religious and social tributaries that have, over the centuries, contributed to the enrichment of our history, our values and our material and intangible cultural heritage.

Handicrafts, in addition to their impor-

MEDERSA BEN YOUSSEF MUSEUM

With a direct contribution to GDP of around seven per cent, tourism is – more than ever – at the centre of calculations of the economic and social development of our country recently (Budapest, Vienna, Warsaw etc.). I hope that this step, which is part of a gradual process, will cover Belgrade very soon.

• As minister, you also manage the 'Handicrafts' portfolio. This is an important sector that employs 20 per cent of the working population, but, above all, reflects the huge heritage and cultural and human wealth related to the history and traditions of the Moroccan people. What is your department's policy for promoting this sector and supporting craftsmen whose knowhow, which is passed down from generation to

management, ploughing, harvesting and gathering, storing foodstuffs, education etc. Today, under the modern economy, this can be considered as a solution for fighting poverty and the marginalisation of certain groups or regions. Is there a strategy for redefining and modernising social economy to ensure the inclusive economic development of Moroccan women and young people?

tant contribution to the national economy (more than 2.3 million jobs) are an important medium for the protection and transmission of our ancestral heritage, traditions and knowhow. In this sense, we strive to double our efforts to ensure all the factors and conditions of success necessary for development are placed in the service of this vital sector.

• The history of Morocco is also the story of a social economy based on solidarity, which – in its traditional form – corresponded to a communal system of water

- Among the secular values and traditions of Morocco to which I refer, mutual aid and solidarity between individuals and communities have a place of choice. Indeed, many economic activities in our country have for centuries been based on these notions and have been developed and structured through the years. Thus, Morocco's social and solidarity economy today counts more than 20,000 cooperatives, supervising more than 600,000 men and women, 130,000 associations and more than 53 mutuals.

In this sense, we set ourselves the objective of highlighting and reinforcing this sector's contribution to job creation, and particularly the inclusion of different sections of the population, especially young people and women, which would allow us to contribute to boosting our country's GDP in a more substantial way. ■ APRIL

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INTERVIEW

H.E. MOHAMMED AMINE BELHAJ, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to Serbia

Morocco and Serbia share the same vision of a world in which peace, security, solidarity and cooperation are the most important values. Based on vibrant bilateral relations, the two countries have shown a readiness to use the momentum and give “more strategic character” to relations

Friendship & Mutual Respect A lthough diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Serbia have always been good, the recent accelerating of bilateral relations promises even more dynamic cooperation, especially in the fields of trade and economics.

• Your Excellency, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said during his recent visit to Belgrade that relations between Serbia and Morocco are experiencing some kind of “honeymoon”. How would you say bilateral relations stand between Serbia and Morocco?

- Rooted in history, diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Serbia have been shaped over the years by strong and symbolic moments of friendship and mutual respect. The legal 4 |

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framework governing these relations has been strengthened in recent years through the signing of several agreements and memoranda in various fields, economic and trade, air services, culture, youth and sports, diplomatic academies and justice etc.

The year 2018 witnessed a positive and virtuous dynamic, as well as the enhancement of political dialogue between the two countries through regular contacts and, in particular, between both ministers of foreign affairs, who expressed – in September 2018 – their ambition to give a “more strategic character” to the relationship.

In order to consolidate this momentum and strengthen economic and trade cooperation, the two foreign ministers agreed last September to organise the 2nd session of the Joint Economic Commission, which took place in Rabat on March 6th 2019.

• Bilateral relations have a strong foothold based in the past and the two countries' traditional cooperation in the scope of the Non-Aligned Movement.

- Yes, indeed, relations between Morocco and Serbia are strong and based on mutual respect and solidarity. Moreover, these relations were strengthened by the friendship between our late leaders and Non-Aligned Movement founders – His Majesty King Hassan II and President Josip Broz Tito – who shared a common vision opposed to colonialism and imperialism, fighting against poverty and promoting economic development.

Both countries are working for a world where peace, security, solidarity and cooperation prevail. We have also maintained our principled stance in defending territorial integrity and national sovereignty, based on International Law, which is additionally re-

INTEGRITY

COOPERATION

PEACE

Morocco and Serbia stand together in supporting the principle of territorial integrity and national sovereignty

The main sectors for advancing our cooperation could be agriculture, renewable energies, tourism and ICT, as well as the automotive and aeronautics industries

Both countries are working for a world where peace, security, solidarity and cooperation prevail

flected through the two countries' mutual support within international organisations.

• The Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, convened under the auspices of the United Nations General Assembly, took place on 10th and 11th December 2018, in Marrakesh, Morocco. What could be learned from this conference?

- The organisation of this conference in Marrakesh primarily testifies to the commitment of the Kingdom of Morocco to tackling major multilateral issues, as well as its deep conviction that the major issues of the moment can be solved only through a common approach. Migration is, more than ever, at the heart of global issues, which can only be identified together and in which we can no longer choose indifference.

States have shown that this question brings people together more than it divides them, and that it must be the subject of a commitment that can no longer be circumstantial.

By adopting the Marrakesh Pact, states have

• Returning to bilateral relations, it was suggested during the October 2018 session of the UN General Assembly that Morocco had changed its stance regarding Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence, which was denied at the highest level. What is Morocco's stance on the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo?

- As I mentioned earlier, Morocco and Serbia

Three cooperation agreements were signed in the fields of Tourism, Trade and Economy, as well as between the two national libraries taken a decisive step towards improving the lives of the 258 million migrants around the world, and reconciling the interests of countries with the human rights of migrants.

The Marrakesh Pact for safe, orderly and regular migration would, therefore, be the result of frank dialogue and a comprehensive approach, in which migration is analysed within all these dimensions.

As His Majesty King Mohammed VI has pointed out, “For the time being, the Global Compact remains a promise which history will judge. The time for celebrating its success has not come as yet.” It is up to us, now, to implement the Pact and to begin the “post-Marrakesh” era.

stand together in supporting the principle of territorial integrity and national sovereignty. The position of the Kingdom remains unchanged; we don't recognise Kosovo, in accordance with the fundamental principles of our foreign policy, which aims to ensure the respect of territorial integrity and reject any self-proclamation of independence. Moreover, Morocco supports and encourages negotiation process under the mediation of the EU. • How would you evaluate the 2 nd Joint Economic Commission between Morocco and Serbia, which took place in Rabat on 6th March 2019?

- Co-Chaired by Mr Mohamed Sajid, Moroccan Minister of Tourism, Air Transport, Handicrafts and Social Economy, and Mr Rasim Ljajić, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Trade and Telecommunications, the 2nd Joint Commission aimed to explore ways and means of strengthening cooperative relations and laying the foundations of a strategic partnership between the two countries.

On this occasion, Deputy PM Ljajić met the Head of Government, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Minister of Industry, Commerce, Investments and Digital Economy.

Three cooperation agreements were signed in the fields of Tourism, Trade and Economy, as well as between the two national libraries.

It has been suggested that a free trade agreement to be concluded, which would be the first for Serbia with an African and Arab country. Morocco and Serbia also jointly called for more cooperation in five areas, namely the automotive industry, the textile industry, agriculture, tourism and ICTs. • In which areas of the economy do you see possibilities to expand economic cooperation?

- I should say that there is plenty of room for cooperation. All sectors of economic activity can contribute to strengthening our bilateral cooperation. We are in the logic of complementarity and exchanges of experience and expertise. The main sectors to explore could be agriculture, renewable energies, tourism and ICT, as well as the automotive and aeronautics industries. ■ APRIL

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ECONOMIC OVERVIEW

Embodiment Of Smart And Robust Growth

Macroeconomic stability and low inflation allow Morocco to plan its further development ambitiously in a variety of sectors, spanning from technology to tourism and agriculture. As a fast growing economy, it is a role model for turning Africa into a prosperous story

W

ith a strategic position at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and the MENA region, Morocco stands out as a regional leader and a gateway to the continent.

In recent years, the Moroccan economy has been characterised by macroeconomic stability and low levels of inflation, totalling +1.9% in 2018. The Moroccan economy remains solid and predominantly reliant on exports. With GDP of about 113 billion USD for a population of 34.5 million, its GDP growth reached 3.1% in 2018.

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Morocco has implemented ambitious reforms aming to develop its economy over the last two decades.

The Government of Morocco has put in place several sector-specific strategies in order to enhance key sectors like industry, energy, transport and infrastructure, health and education. The country has improved its ranking on the World Bank's Doing Business Index to 60th place.

Morocco's success in economic growth is recognised as having been a result of the implementation of effective business plan-

ning, but also the ensuring that growth impacts on all parts of society. The Government is working to raise its potential to ensure inclusive growth for the entire population.

Moreover, Morocco is certainly seen as a development partner for the fast-growing economies of Africa, through cooperation, support and the transfer of knowhow and expertise in different sectors, such as finance, agriculture, industry, electrification, social housing etc. Morocco has pledged to support Africa through many developmental and sustainable projects.

Moroccan companies are already present in more than 25 countries, making Morocco the top African country when it comes to investments in West Africa and the second at the level of the continent. This gives the Kingdom an entrepreneurial advantage and ensures it is a natural gateway for international investors.

INFRASTRUCTURE Morocco launched a major project to modernise its national road network: connecting 2,000km of

highways and 70 per cent of the main cities.

The port of Tanger-Med is another major project that would never have been possible without the clear visionary approach of the sovereign and which has brought change to Morocco's northern region. Due to this integrated hub of competitiveness, the country has reached the rank of 16th in terms of maritime connectivity.

Located at a point where 20% of world trade intersects, Tanger-Med is a global logistics gateway located on the Strait of Gibraltar and connected to 174 ports worldwide, with an annual handling capacity of nine million containers, exports of a million new vehicles, seven million passengers and 700,000 haulage vehicles. It is an industrial hub for more than 800 companies, representing an annual export turnover exceeding 6.4 billion USD, mainly in the automotive, aeronautics, agribusiness, logistics, textiles, trade and services sectors.

Thanks to its unique position at the conjunction of major maritime routes, Tanger-Med is a natural transshipment hub for global logistics flows. More than 100,000 ships a year and 200 cargo ships a day cross the Strait of Gibraltar on the maritime services of the world’s largest ocean-liners, connecting Asia, Europe, the Americas and Africa.

These strong fundamentals have enabled the attracting of top-notch international players, such as MAERSK -APM Terminals, CMA CGM, EUROGATE, RENAULT-NISSAN, with the largest car plant in Africa, SUMITOMO, DELPHI, LEAR CORPORATION, VALEO and SIEMENS.

In terms of airport infrastructure, Morocco has 18 airports, including 10 that operate internationally. More than 18 million passengers transit through Moroccan airports annually.

The High Speed Train line (LGV), linking Tangiers to Casablanca, is the first of its kind to be implemented in Africa. The first segment of this LGV line between Tangier and Rabat was launched on 15th November 2018 in Tangiers: six million passengers a year, with an occupancy rate of 70%.

INVESTMENT FLOWS Morocco is a country that provides international companies with opportunities to invest in Africa, through the legal framework: bilateral agreements and FTAs that Morocco has signed with its partners (providing access to more than 1.3 billion consumers.)

The stability of Moroccan growth has allowed a rise in FDI inflows in recent years, with the attracting of an annual average of three billion USD. The inflow of FDI reached 3.3 billion USD in 2018, compared to 2.7 billion USD in 2017, which represents an increase of 28.6%. These investments relate to various sectors – from industry, energy, tourism and infrastructure, to finance, technology and telecommunications.

Morocco’s recent focus on export industries

makes the country a magnet for FDI, thanks to a strategy that is strengthening six key sectors.

This strategy is based on the National Pact of Industrial Emergence, which was launched in 2008 to develop aeronautics, the agriculture industry and the automotive, offshoring, pharmaceuticals and textiles sectors through the increase of exports and the modernising of local industries.

INDUSTRY The Industrial Acceleration Plan 2014-2020 aims to create half a million new jobs and increase the contribution of industry to GDP from 14 to 23 per cent.

The new strategy is based on creating synergies between large firms and SMEs. Canadian aerospace company Bombardier is an example of successful integration into the local business ecosystem. Alongside Bombardier, 137 companies have been established in Morocco that supply equipment for this company and many other aircraft manufacturers (Boeing, EADS, Safran Group, Daher etc.).

The creation of the new ecosystem also applies to other industries, including the automotive sector, which attracted investments from Renault, Peugeot and BYD. With a production capacity of 700,000 vehicles per year, annual APRIL

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production will reach a million vehicles by 2022.

This sector is already the leading export sector and has rendered the Kingdom a leader in the production of vehicles in Africa. More than 200 automotive suppliers are based in Morocco, while the facilities of more than 50 top ranked equipment manufacturers are under construction.

RENEWABLE ENERGIES The success of Morocco's revolution in the development of renewable energies continues to assert itself, making the Kingdom a model for international institutions that are working to expand in other parts of Africa – a continent that is set to rise to important developmental challenges.

creating an additional 1.15 million new jobs and tripling the income of three million people living in rural areas.

The “Green Morocco Plan” works through a dual approach to advance the sector. The first pillar is dedicated to the development of modern and high-added-value agriculture, while the second promotes the development of solidarity-based agriculture. The private sector plays a central role in the first pillar, while the Government is the driving force behind the second, through the development of a series of projects, ranging from diversification to the development of niche segments. The goal is to boost farmers’ revenue and alleviate poverty with support from banks and micro-credit agencies, in collaboration with cooperatives, asso-

Morocco aims to produce 42 per cent of its energy from clean energy by 2020 and 52 per cent by 2030. In order to achieve this, MASEN (Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energies) will provide an additional minimum capacity of 3,000 MW in 2020 and 6,000 MW in 2030, divided between solar, wind and hydro sources.

ciations and non-governmental organisations.

Argan Oil products are an example of successful high-value goods. Produced traditionally for domestic use, Argan Oil is now gaining worldwide recognition, both as a component of high-end cosmetics products and as a hearthealthy gourmet product.

AGRICULTURE Agriculture plays a significant role in Morocco’s economy, contributing around 15 per cent of GDP, generating 40 per cent of employment and contributing to over 10 per cent of exports.

The Moroccan agricultural sector is the largest in the region, with top exports including fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, olive oil, spices and nuts. In an effort to boost this sector, the Government has launched a strategic development plan known as the “Green Morocco Plan” (Maroc Vert). The aim is for agriculture to contribute 18 Billion USD to GDP by 2020,

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES The Moroccan information and communications sector is moving towards deeper integration with the global knowledge economy.

The “Digital Morocco” Strategic Plan envisages information technology as a cornerstone of the economy, while the strategy also extends beyond information technology. Technology is understood as a tool enabling the digital transformation of society at the economic and societal level, which would allow Morocco to benefit from trends and establish a digital

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economy. Morocco is already leading the way in outsourcing and offshoring. Thanks to its key geostrategic position, Morocco has the will and duty to play a role by creating an integrated hub between Europe and Africa.

TOURISM Morocco has become a benchmark for tourism development in the Mediterranean region.

Its Vision 2020 Strategy aims to sustain the success of tourism and place Morocco among the world's top 20 destinations, whilst also making it a reference model for sustainable development. Ecotourism is one of Morocco's prominent sectors, while congress, events and sports tourism have experienced significant growth over recent years. More than 12.3 million

tourists visited Morocco in 2018.

With its magical souks, gardens, palaces and top-class facilities, and its ranking as the number one tourist destination in 2015 according to Trip Advisor, the city of Marrakesh increased its statistics in terms of overnight stays in 2018. Various classified tourist accommodation establishments recorded a year-on-year increase of 10 per cent in 2018. As such, more than 8.5 million overnight stays were recorded between January and December 2018, compared to 7.7 million in 2017.

The Government of Morocco is also investing in emerging destinations like Dakhla, which has become the best destination for wind and kite surfing, as well as imperial cities like Fes and Meknes, known for their historical heritage. Meanwhile, the city of Ouarzazate in south-central Morocco, known as the gateway to the Sahara, has become a famous centre of filmmaking over the last four decades.■

INTERVIEW

ADEL EL FAKIR, DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE MOROCCAN NATIONAL TOURIST OFFICE (ONMT)

We are operating in a very competitive sector, and therefore we are exerting great efforts to promote the “Morocco brand” all over the world, using digital means in 2019. We are glad that tourists from Serbia are increasingly choosing Morocco as their favourite destination

Love For Morocco Doesn’t Recognise Borders

M

ore and more tourists all over the globe are recognising Morocco as an excellent tourist spot. Tourists from Serbia are increasingly interested in various destinations within the country, which offers beautiful coastlines and a rich culture and tradition. We spoke with Adel El Fakir, Director General of the Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT), about the tourism industry's prospects.

• Morocco has considerable assets in the tourism field. The diversified products on offer make the Kingdom a favourite destination for tourists from all over the world. The ONMT's mission is to promote and market the “Morocco brand”, both within the country and abroad. What activities does your Office take on the development of this sector and what are your priorities for 2019?

- Morocco is a tourist destination. It has a genuinely rich and diversified offer and enjoys a good reputation on the world stage. However, we operate in a very competitive sector that is changing constantly, so we must adapt to new channels of communication and marketing.

The priority for 2019 will be the digitalisation of our promotion, in which we will insist on the strong points offered by this resource.

KSAR AIT BENHADDOU

• The number of Serbian tourists visiting Morocco has tripled or quadrupled in recent years, despite the absence of direct flights, demonstrating a particular interest in Morocco as a destination. Don’t you think it is high time to propose – through tour operators – specific packages for the tourists of Balkan countries, who are eager for culture and discovery?

- We are aware of the interest among Serbian tourists in Morocco as a destination and the ONMT has already outlined its presence by participating in the country's main tourism promotion event, the Belgrade International Fair of Tourism, in both 2017 and 2018. In

order to promote a better understanding of our destination, promotional material about Morocco has been published in the Serbian language. Moroccan tourism packages are offered by Serbian tour operators, via flights from Budapest with Wizzair and Ryanair.

• How could the ONMT contribute to the establishing of direct flights between Belgrade and one of the Moroccan cities, to serve Serbia and the Balkan region?

- We are ready to study any partnership proposal coming from airlines and tour operators, with the aim of highlighting the assets of Morocco and its regions as a destination. ■ APRIL

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INTERVIEW

MUSTAPHA BAKKOURY, CEO of MASEN

Sustainable & Green Growth The country’s aim of strengthening its energy independence and supporting its socio-economic growth and development while protecting the environment has led to a number of investments in renewable sources of energy

S

ince its Inception in 2010, MASEN, the Moroccan agency for sustainable energy, has been responsible for managing the country's ambitious plan to grow its portfolio of renewable sources of energy. MASEN's CEO, Mustapha Bakkoury, leads this massive task, which involves projects in solar, wind and hydro-power.

• Could you tell us about the work your agency does and the projects in which it is involved?

- Masen is today the driving force behind all 10 |

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renewable energy programmes in Morocco.

By the end of 2018, Morocco had installed capacities of 700 MW of solar power, 1,012 MW of wind power through 10 operational wind farms, and a capacity of 1,770 MW of hydro-power via 29 dams and pumped storage power stations throughout the Kingdom.

Masen’s portfolio of wind and solar projects will be expanded in order to achieve the target of a minimum of 52 per cent of the energy mix from renewable sources by 2030.

• Given the growing need for energy in Morocco, what are Masen’s projections on

supplying clean energy and supporting sustainable development in Morocco?

- Electricity generation represents a strategic challenge for Morocco: the country aims to strengthen its energy independence and ensure a sustainable energy supply in order to guarantee sustained socio-economic growth and development. Choosing renewables enables the Kingdom to support this development whilst protecting the environment.

The Noor Plan, which is the cornerstone of Morocco’s solar strategy, is expected to have a total capacity of 2,000 MW by 2020. It is also a major contributor to Morocco’s targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with savings of 3.7 million tonnes of CO2 forecast by 2020.

Masen has finalised the development of the multi-technology Noor Ouarzazate complex, which is one of the world’s biggest solar energy facilities and represents the perfect embodiment of Masen’s agnostic approach to technology.

The Noor Ouarzazate I plant, which opened in 2016, has a capacity of 160 MW of CSP technology.

Noor Ouarzazate II, which uses parabolic trough technology, has a capacity of 200 MW, while the future Noor Ouarzazate III will provide a capacity of 150 MW through CSP tower technology.

The Noor PV I project has a total capacity of 177 MW from three photovoltaic plants: Noor Ouarzazate IV (72 MW), Noor Boujdour (20 MW) and Noor Laayoune (85 MW).

The Noor PV II programme, Morocco’s second major photovoltaic programme, will be launched soon at various sites throughout Morocco. It will boast a capacity of more than 800 MW and will extend across multiple provinces (Laayoune, Boujdour, Taroudant, Kelaat Sraghna, Khouribga, Lhajeb, Guercif, Sidi Bennour and Jerada).

Noor Midelt represents the second major phase of the Moroccan solar plan. Noor Midelt I comprises two hybrid plants with storage, combining photovoltaic and thermal processes (CSP).

These two hybrid plants will have a capacity of more than 800 MW, with each of them having a CSP capacity of between 150 and 190 MW. Masen, which is now the driving force behind all renewable energy in Morocco, also supports the development of wind and hydro-power projects.

A minimum capacity of 2,000 MW of wind power is planned by 2020. Some 1,012 MW of capacity is already operational, while five major

projects are under development, representing an investment of 11 billion dirhams, that will provide an additional 850 MW of capacity by 2020: Midelt (180 MW), Boujdour (100 MW), Jbel Hdid (200 MW), Tiskrad (300 MW) and Tanger 2 (70 MW). With an industrial integration rate of 70 per cent, the five projects in

• Where does new technology and innovation fit into this?

- Regarding technology, the national strategy aims to optimise the domestic technological mix in order to implement a set-up that can provide a stable, flexible and smart system capable of incorporating an increasing share

Thanks to its strategic location, Morocco serves as a regional interconnection platform between North Africa and Europe this multi-site project draw heavily on local operators, providing a significant contribution to employment in the regions in which they operate.

By 2020, wind power will deliver annual savings of 5.6 million tonnes of CO2.

Thanks to its damming policy and pioneering hydroelectric programme launched in the 1950s, Morocco also boasts an installed hydro-power generation capacity of over 1,700 MW (with a technical domestic potential of 3,800 MW). This capacity has been boosted significantly in recent years, with a third of the Kingdom’s 148 dams having been built over the last 15 years.

Hydroelectric production in Morocco combines power plants with dams, and since the 2000s has incorporated PSPS technology – a particular type of hydroelectric installation capable of meeting the huge need for storage.

of clean energy.

In terms of innovation, Masen provides industrial projects with applied and pre-operational research and development expertise in order to nurture the renewables ecosystem and make renewable energy projects increasingly efficient, accessible and affordable.

As part of our work, Masen is fast-tracking the emergence of innovative green technology on the market. Masen’s R&D strategy involves identifying developing technology with high potential, and supporting it through demo and pre-production phases. This position equals a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of between 4 and 7. Masen R&D achieves this with the support of Morocco’s academic and innovation ecosystem, for which it organises various training courses and support incentives, such as the Masen Talents Campus and the Masen Talents Awards.

Finally, thanks to the Ouarzazate R&D platform – a 200-hectare-plus site designed to accommodate pilot projects – Masen R&D can offer domestic and international green technology leaders and developers the opportunity to test their innovative systems to scale in real operating condi-

tions. This valuable proposition has already attracted various multinational groups and starts-ups, who have formed partnerships with Masen R&D. Masen is also open to new forms of clean energy (tidal, waste-to-energy, electric mobility, etc.).

• As a leader in renewables in Africa, the Kingdom of Morocco is promoting a culture of cooperation, strengthening experience-sharing and supporting project co-development.

What is your agency’s strategy in this area?

- Thanks to its strategic location, strengthened by electrical transit infrastructure developed jointly with Spain and Algeria, and by project studies conducted with Mauritania and Portugal, Morocco serves as a regional interconnection platform between North Africa and Europe.

The Kingdom is working to implement programmes aimed at sharing its expertise in harnessing renewable energy with the South.

For this purpose, Masen has signed memoranda of understanding with several African countries, as shown in the accompanying map. ■ APRIL

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INTERVIEW

M. EL MAHDI ARRIFI, DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE MOROCCAN AGENCY FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT (ADA)

Agriculture Is A Promising Field For Investments

M

El Mahdi Arrifi, Director General of the Moroccan Agency for Agricultural Development (ADA), promotes the Moroccan agricultural sector relentlessly, as one of those sectors that have strong potential for growth, diversification and the refinement of local products.

At the same time, the ADA is responsible for securing sustainable development and making agriculture a sector that's resilient to climate change.

The ADA aims to ensure the acceleration of the pace of investments in the agricultural sector, especially in terms of maximising the valuations of Moroccan agricultural products. In line with that, we will develop investment attraction kits to inform potential partners about the different investment opportunities offered in the Moroccan agricultural sector

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• The participation of your Agency in the Seminar "Doing Business with Morocco", which took place in Belgrade last September, was highly appreciated and allowed participants to understand certain aspects of the Kingdom of Morocco's strategy for agricultural development. Can you enlighten us regarding the strategy of your Agency in 2019, as well as the tangible actions you take to develop this sector?

- First of all, I would like to thank the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in Serbia, which gave us the opportunity to present the agricultural development strategy “Plan Maroc Vert”, and to share with Serbian stakeholders and operators our experiences in the agricultural sector.

As you know, the ADA – which was created in 2009, as part of the overall institutional reforms of the Department of Agriculture – has the main mission of managing and following-up on the implementation of projects falling within the framework of the Green Morocco Plan “Maroc Vert” (PMV). This agency is also responsible for promoting and attracting investment in the agricultural sector. Moreover, it also supports programmes related to the development of

the marketing of local Moroccan products.

The ADA also deals with aspects related to sustainable development and climate change, as the national entity accredited by the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Fund.

Thus, the ADA's action programme for 2019 is focused on the continuation and consolidation of various programmes and projects launched under the Green Morocco Plan.

As such, the ADA will ensure the acceleration of the pace of investments in the agricultural sector, especially in terms of maximising the evaluation of agricultural products and doing so within the framework of the contract programme on development of the agro-industry (IAA), particularly in terms of attracting investments for the development of exports of packaged olive oil.

The ADA will also continue to develop and update investment attraction kits for the main value-added sectors, in order to highlight the different investment opportunities offered in the Moroccan agricultural sector for the benefit of investors.

Furthermore, the ADA will undertake several actions aiming to boost agricultural aggregation projects through the revision of approval and support procedures for these

bution channels, as well as strengthening promotional activities through participation in national and international events.

In terms of project management, the ADA will reinforce activities undertaken in terms of monitoring and evaluating the portfolio of the PMV's Pillar I and Pillar II projects.

Finally, the ADA will continue its efforts to mobilise funding from donors for the implementation of agricultural development projects based on solidarity-based agricul-

The ADA's action programme for 2019 is focused on the continuation and consolidation of various programmes and projects launched under the Green Morocco Plan projects, on the one hand, and, on the other, through the strengthening of awareness-raising actions among the concerned operators.

With regard to solidarity farming projects (Pillar II Projects (PMV)), the ADA will continue with the launching of nearly 100 new projects, while accelerating the pace of the implementation of ongoing projects.

It will also ensure the sustainability of implemented projects.

Regarding the development of marketing for local products, the ADA will continue programmes launched to upgrade groups of producers of local products, accelerate and facilitate the access of these products to supermarkets and other modern distri-

ture and the strengthening of agriculture's resilience to climate change. It is worth noting that these efforts were crowned by the ADA's 2012 accreditation by the Adaptation Fund (FA), and in 2016 by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), enabling it to directly access the resources of these climate funders. • It should be noted that Serbia is an agricultural country and has proven experience and expertise in this field, particularly in the areas of Smart Agriculture and Agricultural Research. The country organises the biggest agricultural fair in the Balkan region – the International Agricultural Fair of Novi Sad. As a member of the Alliance

of Central European Fairs (CEFA) and the European Federation of Agricultural Exhibition Organisers (EURASCO), this event is renowned for its number of participants and visitors, which grow each year, allowing us to bring together experts and agricultural stakeholders from around the world. Do you plan to participate in this Fair in the future, and what contribution can you provide to developing cooperation between Morocco and Serbia?

- Indeed, the Novi Sad International Fair is one of the most important agricultural events in the agricultural sector and the agri-food industry in the Balkan region.

With an awareness of the importance of this event, the ADA has agreed to participate in the 86th edition in 2019, through the staging of a conference on investment opportunities in the agricultural sector in the country through the Green Morocco Plan, and to inform Moroccan operators in the field of agribusiness of the possibility of participating in this large-scale event.

This first participation will allow the ADA to closely explore possible room for cooperation in promoting investment in the agricultural sector between Morocco and Serbia through contacts with major players in the Serbian agricultural sector.

In light of this participation, the ADA may consider the strengthening of its presence at this fair in the future. â– APRIL

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INTERVIEW

KHALID BENJELLOUN, CGEM VICE PRESIDENT

The global economy is currently going through the era of digitalisation, which needs to be capitalised on, in order to make information available to both sides.

The potential is enormous if we consider that Serbia could be the gateway to the Balkans and Morocco to Africa. That is what we have to consider in future if we are to improve our economic relations

We Need To Be Better Acquainted

T

he governments of both Serbia and Morocco have set themselves the goal of developing and modernising their economies in order to make them the most competitive and efficient in their regions, by adopting new economic guidelines.

Serbia aspires to join the EU within six years, following the Western model and regaining its leading position in the region with an economy that has stable growth.

At the national level, Morocco is a politically stable kingdom and has important economic assets, including the choice of economic liberalism.

Over the last ten years, strategic choices have been made to increase our economic attractiveness, including ambitious sector-specific strategies that modernise traditional sectors like agriculture and mining, and which develop innovative sectors, such as the aerospace and automotive industries and energy.

“As a result, we must look at the promising sectors between our two countries and pool our efforts to promote bilateral trade,” says Khalid Benjelloun, Vice-President of CGEM, responsible for supporting entrepreneurship.

“Trade remains weak. Total bilateral trade in 2017 was 184 million MAD, which – even with a 37% increase over the previous year – remains 14 |

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very low. Morocco imports mainly tobacco from Serbia and exports its cars to Serbia, which brings us back to the importance of diversifying our trade and communicating more.

“Our two markets are not well known by Serbian or Moroccan companies, and capitalising on the organisation of meetings, exchanges of delegations in Morocco and Serbia and facilitating access to information from our two markets would improve the economic and trade relations between our two countries.”

• What about the establishment of the MoroccoSerbia Business Council?

-The Business Council was set up during the seminar "Doing Business with Morocco", organised in September 2018 by the Moroccan Embassy in Serbia, with the valuable collaboration of the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Serbia.

This Seminar, which took place on the sidelines of the visit of Minister for Foreign and International Cooperation Nasser Bourita, was an opportunity to inform local businesses about the Moroccan commercial offer and, at the same time, reactivate the cooperation agreement signed by the CGEM with the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Serbia in 2013. It was also an opportunity to set up the Business Council.

The next natural step would be to appoint the Serbian and Moroccan co-presidents.

• What steps have been taken to facilitate contact between the two business communities and to make known the potential and the opportunities offered by Morocco and Serbia?

- To begin with, and as part of the Business Council's action plan, we are currently working on a first action that will be based on the setting up of a series of newsletters in Morocco and Serbia. These newsletters will further promote Morocco, Serbia and their potential, providing an overview of the two economies and promoting the growth sectors of the two countries, but also highlighting the various benefits, such as offshore areas to promote triangular partnership between the Balkans and Africa.

This tool will improve our visibility, provide the image of an active and dynamic market, share our news, inform the different readers and highlight the needs and expectations of both markets.

Moreover, the organisation of economic meetings would also be a way to inform people about the potential that exists and facilitate contact between the two business communities by providing high-quality scientific content and organising B2B meetings. ■