Čadež: Our Goal is to Strengthen Support for Partnerships between Serbian and Slovenian Companies

Photo/Tanjug ( Author, Nebojša Mandić)

The foreign trade exchange between Serbia and Slovenia in the past three years has exceeded one billion euros and there is a great chance for a further increase. In addition to trade in goods and services, total mutual investments are growing. Serbian companies have invested more than half a billion euros in Slovenia in the last few years, while the value of Slovenian investments in the Serbian economy, in the last ten years, reached more than a billion euros. Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia and the representative office in Ljubljana, which started operating three years ago, makes a great contribution and support to successful economic cooperation between the two countries – with more than 300 bilateral activities (b2b), more than 500 business contacts and more than a thousand inquiries and demands of businessmen from Serbia and Slovenia.

"With the raising capacity of Serbian companies to export and invest outside the local market and further opening of Slovenia to foreign investments, more and more Serbian products, companies and investments are present on the Slovenian market. In recent years, in addition to business systems - large investors, such as MK Group, Comtrade, Delta, or Nectar, an increasing number of small and medium-sized companies from Serbia are deciding to start a business in Slovenia. Slovenia is recognized as a desirable business and investment destination, and the Slovenian market as a step on the road to further penetration of the large, EU single market," said the President of the CCIS, Marko Čadež.

Today, more than 4,000 companies from Serbia are doing business with partners from Slovenia. Despite all the limitations businessmen are facing, our mutual exchange remained at the level before the pandemic last year and by the end of October this year, it increased by 16% compared to the same period in 2020. Serbian exports to the Slovenian market not only recovered but has increased by as much as 28 percent compared to ten months last year. According to Slovenian institutions, there are around 2,000 companies registered in Slovenia owned by our companies and citizens, including Serbian transporters, who are increasingly deciding to run their business on the EU market from a member state due to minor restrictions and simpler procedures. At the same time, more than 500 of our companies have serious business operations on the Slovenian market, explains the president of CCIS.

"Interest in mutual cooperation of Slovenian and Serbian businessmen has been growing in recent years, and not only in traditional areas of cooperation. New opportunities are opening up in other segments of the economy as well - from agribusiness, through renewable energy sources, the green economy to tourism and IT. The fact that the Serbian Komercijalna Banka was bought by Nova ljubljanska banka, and that AIK banka became the owner of Gorenjska banka firstly, and then of the Slovenian branch of Sberbank, is another incentive and provides additional security to our businessmen in realizing business arrangements ", says Čadež.

Managers in companies operating in the Serbian and Slovenian markets emphasize the great importance of the support CCIS and its representative office in Ljubljana provide, their commitment to the partnership of the two business communities, and strategic approach to their business plans and joint successes in the region.

"Nektar Group has been in Slovenia since 2011 after taking over Fruktal, the brand icon of the region, which has been successfully integrated into the Nektar Group's business, with dynamic growth and development as a result of investments in employees, brands, new technologies, and processes.

Today, Fruktal operates extremely successfully, with numerous recognizable brands, and we are especially proud of the maintained and strengthened leading position in Slovenia, and the entire region. The challenges of doing business in the region and the European Union are certainly easier to overcome when you know you can rely on the right partners. Successful cooperation with local institutions and business associations is extremely important to us, and the team of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia in Slovenia has a special role, as someone who knows us, knows and understands our needs, and monitors our business. We are looking forward to new joint successes and projects, "said Nenad Miscevic, CEO of Nektar Group.

MK Group is also making success in the Slovenian market. It has been present since 2015, when it took over the Kempinski Palace Portorož hotel, part of the oldest European luxury hotel chain, with a tradition of more than 120 years. Since 2018, it has a majority stake in Portorož Airport, and with the purchase of Heta Asset Resolution in 2020, it has completed its investments in real estate in this market.

"So far, we have invested over 210 million euros in business in Slovenia, and in the coming years, we expect further growth in this promising market, where we are present as a strategic investor and one of the leading investment groups. We are especially glad that the Slovenian public recognizes us for socially responsible activities such as "Gratitude to Heroes" and support for the boy Chris. As part of the regional project "Family Support", where the focus is on future mothers and babies, we recently sent a donation of 120,000 euros to the maternity hospital at the University Medical Center Ljubljana. I use this opportunity to congratulate the CCIS Representation office on three years of work and, as before, we hope for the successful cooperation in the future as well ",said the General Director of MK Group Mihailo Janković.

Representatives of the banking sector see the support of the CCIS as a bridge connecting Slovenian and Serbian companies. "When you are working on new business opportunities, it is very important to find the right partners, among which is certainly the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia. NLB and CCIS are a bridge that connects many Serbian and Slovenian companies, opens doors, and establishes business connections. For Slovenia, Serbia is one of the most important trade partners outside the EU, which has great development potential.

The NLB group recognized that. By joining Komercijalna Banka Beograd, we have become one of the most important systemic financial institutions in Serbia, which means that our services will contribute to the realization of Serbia's development potential - for example by financing investments in economy and infrastructure, as well as in renewable energy production. "Our commitment to the entire region of Southeast Europe is reflected in opening opportunities for company growth, ie taking care of economic development and at the same time improving the quality of life in the region through our services and activities, because this is now our home," said Blaž Brodnjak, President of the Management Board of the NLB Group.

That the strengthening of business ties between Serbian and Slovenian businessmen and joint projects of companies is of strategic importance for both individual economies and the region confirm representatives of Mercator, Air Serbia, AIK Bank, Delta Holding, Comtrade, Komercijalna Banka, Dairy factory Mlekara Šabac, Intercontinental, Zlatiborac and other ...