TRADE | TOURISM | TELECOMMUNICATIONS 2021
INTERVIEW
TATJANA MATIĆ, MINISTER OF TRADE, TOURISM AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
We Were Ready For
UNEXPECTED DISRUPTIONS Careful, systemically conceived and implemented digital transformation in Serbia has enabled the economy and citizens to be far more ready to confront the challenges they faced during the pandemic. Even in the tourism sector, which suffered the greatest consequences of the crisis, this sequence of events did not hinder the digital promotion of domestic potential.
T
he economic sectors that come under the scope of the work of the Ministry of Trade,Tourism andTelecommunications experienced tectonic disruptions during COVID-19, from the strong rise of E-commerce and the mass transition to working from home, to great pressures felt by the tourism sector. We spoke with Minister Tatjana Matić about the digital transformation process in Serbia, the introduction of the 5G network and a new reconsidering of Serbian tourism’s position on the global map. How would you summarise a year of life under the pandemic, from the perspective of your ministry? The strategic commitment to digitalisation that was made five years ago has enabled Serbia not only to gain numerous development potentials, but also to fortify itself for the challenges of the modern era in terms of current social and economic changes. Although nobody could have predicted the terrible global crisis and the blow of the pandemic, it could be said that we were ready for unexpected disruptions thanks to our systemic approach to digitalisation in the areas of the development of regulations, stimulating the development of telecommunications, information security, raising the level of digital skills, developing E-commerce and enabling market liberalisation.
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