The Vice-President of the &nbsp;Moldova Chamber of Commerce, Natalia Calenic visited the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia and discussed further cooperation between the two chambers with the representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia ( CCIS).
Mihailo Vesović, Director of the Sector for Strategic Analysis, Services, presented CCIS services related to international trade, such as Certificates of Origin, and ATA carnets, while Mrs. Calenic presented a set of digitalized services that this chamber offers to its members. At the meeting, it was agreed to expand the cooperation between the two chambers.

Digital Services in Focus of Cooperation between CCIS and Moldova Chamber of Commerce

The export value of&nbsp;organic products from Serbia has&nbsp;increased more than 15 times in the past ten years. Compared to 2020 alone, last year's exports jumped 53 percent and amounted to 57.4 million euros.
"Serbia, as a producer of organic products, is present in the world market for more than 20 years, and during that time all indicators show rapid and stable development," says Bojana Lalović from the Center for the Organization of Fairs, Manifestations, and Events of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.
At the moment, there are more than 7,000 producers, and many of them regularly participate in international fairs where they promote their organic products. "At the upcoming BioFach 2023 Fair, which will be held from February 14th to 17th next year, 11 companies from Serbia will take part," announced Lalović. Under the slogan "WE SPEAK ORGANIC", Serbian organic producers will present a range of products, from fresh, dried, lyophilized, and frozen fruits and vegetables, organic cereal products, flour and pasta, organic fruit jams, to honey and dried mushrooms.&nbsp;

 Serbia Successfully "Speaks" Organic

Companies from Serbia, producers of fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, during a four-day working visit to Israel, held a large number of meetings and b2b meetings with Israeli importers and distributors, while also visiting some of the leading Israeli retail chains with a goal&nbsp;to explore&nbsp;possibilities of exporting to this prospective market and finding new partners.
The visit was organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of&nbsp;Serbia and the representative office of CCIS in Israel, as this country represents an attractive market for Serbian producers, especially those of&nbsp;frozen fruits, vegetables, apples, jams, juices, but also prunes and all-natural products without gluten, additives and added sugar, such as&nbsp;cold-pressed juices, granola, butter, natural milk.
The Government of Israel, with the aim of increasing competition and reducing the cost of living, is increasing import quotas and gradually canceling customs restrictions on the import of these products, which opens up great opportunities for companies from Serbia.For export to the Israeli market, possession of a Kosher certificate issued by the certifying rabbinate is also required.&nbsp;
Our businessmen and CCIS representatives spoke with the management of leading Israeli importers, including Paskovich Co, Green Filed Foods Co, A.S.K. Anshel Marketing Ltd, Tomer Ltd, Lev's Co, Lord Sandwich, and others, as well as with representatives of retail chains Yochananof, Shufersal, Rami Levy, Osher Ad. 
The following companies visited Israel last week: Agranela, Valjevo, ITN Group, Belgrade, Budimka, Požega, Zdravo Organk, Selenča, Cold Pressok, Belgrade, Master Fruits, Belgrade, Fruct Company, Udovice, Select Fruit, Subotica, Euro Frigo, Požega, PIK Becej.

Israel- A Good Market for Quality Fruits and Vegetables, Jams and Natural Juices  from Serbia 

More than 60 representatives of companies and institutions cooperating with Belgium participated in the seminar "Possibilities of Improving the Cooperation of Serbian and Belgium Companies“ which was organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (CCIS). The seminar was an opportunity to present the potential and promising sectors of cooperation with Belgium.&nbsp;
Mihailo Vesović, Director of the Sector for Internationalization of the CCIS, pointed out that economic cooperation with Belgium is on an upward trajectory, and the proof of that is the presence of 99 Belgian companies that are already successfully operating in Serbia. He pointed out to IT sector and the food industry as promising sectors for cooperation, adding that Belgian companies are also interested in the transfer of knowledge and technologies. He also pointed out to the possibility of regional cooperation through the Open Balkan Initiative. "I am sure that our cooperation will strengthen in the coming years, and the Embassy of Belgium will provide support to all companies that are interested in cooperation with the Belgian market," said Cathy Bugenhaut, Ambassador of Belgium to Serbia, who was appointed in August this year. Marijana Milošević Tufegdžić, the economic advisor at the Embassy of Belgium, pointed out that Belgium, although a small country, is among the&nbsp;15 biggest exporters and importers in the world, and that it represents an excellent logistics platform for cooperation with other EU and world markets. She added that Belgian companies are most interested in cooperation in the chemical industry, IT services, and technology transfer. Examples of good practices from Belgian companies operating in Serbia were also presented at the seminar. The experience of doing business with Serbia presented companies Elicio from the sector of&nbsp;renewables, Puratos from the food industry, Unifiedpost from the information technology sector, but also company Ecofungi, which produces mushrooms, and has been exporting to Belgium for years.
The Belgian Serbian Business Association also presented its activities at the event.&nbsp;

Food Sector and Knowlegde Transfer to Boost Cooperation with Belgium

The President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, Marko Čadež, today handed over his mandate as President of the Board of Directors of the Chamber Investment Forum of the Western Balkans (CIF WB6) to the President of the Chamber of Commerce of Kosovo, Lulzim Rafuna. At the Investment Conference organized by the Chamber Investment Forum, which is being held today in Ljubljana, Čadež emphasized that it is time for even greater trust and cooperation of all economies in the region.
"It's time to trust each other, to celebrate what unites us, not what divides us." Therefore, I have decided to hand over my mandate as president of the CIF Board of Directors, as our common regional chamber, to my dear friend Lulzim Rafuna, the president of the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce. Let's build a better future for our business together and build a region of success and not a region of conflict, said Čadež and thanked Rafuna for accepting the mandate. Čadež pointed out that eight years ago when the cooperation between the chambers of Serbia and Kosovo began followed by all chambers of the region, no one believed that it was possible. This is why I'm extremely glad when I see colleagues from all chambers of commerce - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Kosovo - together today and when I see that we share a common vision and a different reality. And this is not something that we say for the sake of order, because only what you do actually counts, and this is another step in that direction," said Čadež. The Chamber Investment Forum of the Western Balkans, which consists of chambers of commerce of all six economies, gathers more than 350,000 companies from the entire region. Photo: CIF WB6 by Danijela Kovač<div class="article-photo"><img src="https://en-api.pks.rs/storage/assets/KIF WB6.JPG" id="image-tag-1669124096741" data-image-alignment="article-photo" data-image-size-id="original" data-asset-id="739"></div>

Čadež: Time for the Trust, I am Handing Over the Mandate in CIF to the President of the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce

For all governments of the Western Balkans, the key issue is energy, progress in that sector, and greater use of renewable energy sources, where Norway's experience and support can be valuable, it was pointed out at the Regional Business Conference Norway- Western Balkans „Investment opportunities in renewable energy sources in the Western Balkans".The conference, which was held at the Palace of Serbia,&nbsp; gathered the leaders from the Region -Aleksandar Vučić, President of Serbia, Prime Ministers of Albania, North Macedonia, and Montenegro- Edi Rama, Dimitar Kovačevski and Dritan Abazović, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina -Zoran Tegeltija and Andreas Eriksen, Deputy Minister of Energy and Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norway, ministers in the Government of Serbia, representatives of the business community.Cooperation is the only way to get out of the energy crisis we are all facing, said Marko Čadež, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia in the opening speech.&nbsp;As he pointed out, the possibility of investing in renewable energy sources is an issue that occupies the whole world and will affect the way humanity will live in the years and decades to come.We are facing geopolitical challenges that show us how dependent we are on unsustainable, old ways of producing, distributing, and consuming energy and energy sources. We must work on finding different solutions in that area, and Norway's experiences can help us in that, said the president of the CCIS.In the energy sector, numerous reforms are needed, a change in our habits, but also huge investments, even reaching between 16 and 30 billion euros in the coming years, said the President of Serbia,&nbsp; Aleksandar Vučić, stating that there are no easy or simple solutions, but that all this must be undertaken, because we will otherwise, face disaster.For all governments in the region, one of the most important issues is progress in the energy sector, Vučić pointed out. According to the president, there are deep fundamental problems in Serbia, not only when it comes to diversification of gas and oil supply, but when it comes to us, our old-fashioned approach, and old technologies in thermal power plants. The Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, expressed hope that a regional energy market will be created so that the countries of the Western Balkans will have easier access to energy and investments in the energy sector.“This is a needed gathering at a time of war when bombs are falling and hitting someone in Ukraine, and the energy crisis and prices, due to the war, are affecting the whole of Europe. Without any doubt in these difficult times, wider regional cooperation is what we advocated when we started the Open Balkans, and it becomes more and more obvious that we have to regionalize our markets and go beyond our borders in the field of energy," said Rama. "Acting regionally in the energy sector would provide easier access to finance and stronger contact with the private sector," added the Albanian Prime Minister. The Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovačevski, pointed out that his government is considering buying 10 percent of the LNG (liquefied natural gas) at the&nbsp;terminal in Alexandroupolis, Greece, as well as building additional gas interconnectors with Bulgaria, which could connect Serbia and other countries in the region.
"The project related to the new LNG terminal is related to the government's decision to buy 10 percent of LNG in Alexandroupolis," he said. Kovačevski pointed out that North Macedonia is drafting the second phase of the connection with the Greek gas interconnector. The Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dritan Abazović, is convinced that all the countries of the Western Balkans are committed to the same common goal of reducing energy dependence, and shocks that stem from it, and moving towards the construction of energy facilities from renewable sources in order to be more green producers. "The general expectation is to reduce energy dependence and to move towards the construction of energy facilities from renewable sources, to become more&nbsp;green producers and I believe that this is everyone’s intention, not only of Montenegro," said Abazović. Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zoran Tegeltija expressed hope that next year the construction of the „Buk- Bijela“ hydropower plant on the Drina, which the Republika Srpska is building with Serbia, will be made possible. The envoy of the Prime Minister of Norway, Andreas Eriksen, called on the countries of the Western Balkans to cooperate in the field of energy and find solutions for the introduction of a greater degree of renewable energy sources (RES), as well as achieving the goals of the green transition. He offered the help of Norway, its companies, and the experience they have in that area as a country that already met 90 percent of its energy needs from RES. The meeting was organized by the Norwegian embassies in Belgrade and Sarajevo in cooperation with the Nordic Business Alliance, the Business Association of Norway-BiH, and Norwegian partners for cooperation in the field of energy. Bilateral meetings of businessmen were also held under the auspices of the conference.

Investments, Innovations and Cooperation in Energy Sector as a Response to the Crisis

At the beginning of April next year, wines and winemakers of the Open Balkan, from Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia, will have the opportunity to present themselves at the world’s largest wine fair "Vinitaly", which will be held for the 55th time in Verona.&nbsp;&nbsp;The president of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Marko Čadež, and the president of the Italian Union of the Chambers of Commerce (Unioncamere), Andrea Prete, agreed to present “Wine Vision by Open Balkan”, a regional wine fair organised together by Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia for the first time in Belgrade a few months ago, at this most prestigious world wine exhibition.&nbsp;&nbsp;"After the great success of our wine fair that we organised in Belgrade in September, which was attended by more than 350 exhibitors not only from the region but from all over Europe, we are now moving on. Together with our partners from the Union of the Chambers of Commerce of Italy, we have agreed that our regional wine fair will be presented where it belongs – at the largest wine fair in the world, 'Vinitaly', which will be held from 2 to 5 April in Verona", says Čadež.&nbsp;The presentation of wines from our region in Verona is not the only proof of the successful organisation of "Wine Vision by Open Balkan".&nbsp;The prestigious European magazine "Falstaff", which deals with wines and winemaking, will publish an extensive report on the wine fair that was recently held in Belgrade in its December edition. And this is another opportunity for Europe and the world to get to know the wines and winemakers of the Open Balkan.

Wine Vision by Open Balkan at the world’s largest wine fair in Verona

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the Business Forum "Serbia-Spain".&nbsp;
The Memorandum will contribute to a stronger connection between the economies of the two countries, new investments in the areas of high technologies, the automotive industry, environmental protection, energy efficiency, and the development of renewable sources and infrastructure.
The Memorandum of Understanding between the two Chambers was signed by Mihailo Vesović, Director of the Internationalization Sector of the CCIS, and Inmaculada Riera, Director General of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce.
"We finally have in focus economic and trade relations between&nbsp;Serbia and Spain.&nbsp; Our trade cooperation this year will certainly reach one billion euros, and that is a great success and a significant shift compared to the previous period," Vesović pointed out at the Business Forum.
There is significant room for the expansion and development of investment cooperation between the two countries, said Vesović, pointing to the fact that Spain, as the fourth economy in the EU, is not only Europe's first and world's second-ranked&nbsp;tourist destination&nbsp;but also a country with extremely developed high technologies that are implemented&nbsp;in the field of the automotive industry, environmental protection, energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, and infrastructure.
The General Director of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, Inmaculada Riera, emphasized that the two countries have exceptional bilateral relations and that additional work is needed to strengthen economic cooperation. According to her, the signed Memorandum, as well as other agreements with Serbia, will further improve the cooperation between the Serbian and Spanish economies. She reminded that Spain has so far invested about one billion euros in Serbia and invited Spanish and Serbian companies to even stronger cooperation and joint projects.
The Memorandum was signed in the presence of&nbsp;Tomislav Momirović, Minister of Internal and External Trade of Serbia, and Reyes Maroto, Minister of Industry, Trade, and Tourism of Spain.

Vesović: Trade  Exchange Between Serbia and Spain  to Reach  one Billion Euros by the End of the Year

The joint vision of the economies of Serbia, the United States of America, and regional economies is for the Western Balkans to become a region of success because it has great potential when it comes to knowledge, innovation, and creativity, said Marko Čadež, the President&nbsp;of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (CCIS)&nbsp;and the president of the&nbsp;Board of Directors of CIF WB6, at the regional conference "Western Balkan Regional Commercial Conference and Business-to-Business Event" at CCIS. 
"I am sure that after today's meeting we will have new investments and jobs. If we invest in people together, then our region will be a place that people don't leave but return to," said Čadež.
The President of CCIS emphasized that the meeting brought together more than 160 regional companies and 27 global American companies such as Amazon Web Services, Oracle, IBM, Cisco, Motorola, and others.
This is the largest regional meeting in the sector of ICT, energy, and green technologies that takes place in Belgrade, and when it comes to cooperation between the region and the USA.
"More than 160 companies from the entire region are present, from Belgrade, Skopje, Priština, and Peć, to Banja Luka and Sarajevo. They have over&nbsp;260 B2B prescheduled meetings with American companies," said Čadež.
According to Čadež, the past two years have shown that thanks to the&nbsp;joint activities of Serbia and the USA, American companies had significant investments in our country, which is a clear message to other companies from the world that Serbia and the region have great potential for attracting new investments.
John Ginkel, Chargé d'affaires at the US Embassy in Serbia, pointed out that the delegation of American companies had a series of meetings in our country in recent days, saying that by working together, the region can achieve economic prosperity.
"In the last two years, the total trade between Serbia and the USA has been growing significantly, while the growth of exports from Serbia represents the potential for further improvement of economic relations. There is an increasing interest in Serbia from IT companies, as well as those from the fields of infrastructure, telecommunications, and energy, which is very a good indicator of a good business environment in Serbia. The best recommendation for new investors in Serbia is to look at the&nbsp;companies that are members of the American Chamber of Commerce, which have been successfully operating in our market for many years and perceive Serbia as a second home. American companies have so far invested over four billion dollars in Serbia and employ over 30,000 people", said Stefan Lazarević, the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia.
David de Falco, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Europe and Eurasia, pointed out that the United States of America is building long-term partnerships with companies from the Western Balkans, which is developing rapidly and strives for the free flow of goods, services, capital, and people. He added that there is still room for improving relations between his country and the region, especially in the field of energy and ICT technologies, which will be the drivers of development in the future.
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (CCIS), in partnership with the US Embassy in Serbia, the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), with the support of the Chamber Investment Forum (CIF WB6), organized today the regional conference "Western Balkan Regional Commercial Conference and Business-to-Business Event ", dedicated to improving the region's economic relations with the USA, where expert panels and B2B meetings were held.
The event was organized as part of the visit to Serbia and Montenegro by the Trade Mission of the US Government (International Trade Administration), which includes 27 American companies with a focus on ICT, energy, and clean technology.

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<figure><img src="https://en-api.pks.rs/storage/assets/DejviddeFalko.jpg" id="image-tag-1667464286045" data-image-alignment="article-photo" data-image-size-id="original" data-asset-id="733"> </figure>

​Čadež: The Western Balkans Will Be the Region of Success

Companies from Serbia that visited and presented their export offer at the International Food Industry Fair "SIAL" in Paris had more than 1,200 meetings with potential partners. According to the first analysis, the estimated value of trade leads is around 11 million euros.
Serbian companies had meetings with partners from the region, the EU, Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, as well as Canada and the USA, says Bojana Lalović from CCIS. She adds that SIAL was a great opportunity to promote Serbian products, meet new clients and find out about&nbsp;the latest trends in food production. The SIAL fair is held on a two-year basis, and after a four-year break due to the pandemic, more than 7,200 exhibitors from 119 countries with over 400,000 quality products gathered at this world's leading exhibition of the food industry in Paris.

Successful Presentation of Serbian companies from Food Sector at Sial Paris

Serbia has made some progress in the development of a functional market economy, preserved the stability of the banking sector, improved the budget balance, and achieved some progress in tax administration reforms and the privatization of state-owned enterprises.&nbsp; Further&nbsp;structural reforms of public administration and the management of state-owned enterprises are expected in the future, it was pointed out at the presentation of the "Annual Report of the European Commission on Serbia 2022" at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (CCIS).
The European Union is an indisputably&nbsp;strategically important partner of Serbia, first of all, in terms of business. Nothing connects the European Union and Serbia as well, strongly and qualitatively, as our economic ties, and that is why the economy of Serbia is sincerely interested in accelerating the process of accession to the European Union", said Mihailo Vesović, Director of the Sector for Strategic Analysis, Services and Internationalization in CCIS.
Vesović emphasized that it is extremely important, especially in the current global energy crisis, that Serbia opened Cluster 4 last year, which concerns the "green" economy and energy transition, and announced that the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia will present the Declaration "Green transformation of Serbian economy in 10 points". Speaking about Serbia's progress in terms of regional cooperation, he pointed out the importance of the "Open Balkan" Initiative and its benefits to the economy of the region but also emphasized that the economy of Serbia requires the EU to get involved in solving the problem of prolonged waiting time for the trucks at border crossings to the Union. 
&nbsp;Jadranka Joksimović, Minister for European Integration, pointed out that the EC Report shows that Serbia has made progress in areas that are key for the economy, the judiciary, and the fight against corruption, and that the Report clearly states that the Serbian economy has made strong progress.
Joksimović also said that the European Commission made a decision to approve a package of measures for the Western Balkans in the energy sector, which will finance energy stability, security, and diversification of energy supplies. In addition, through the European Investment Plan, the European Union supports the transition to green energy, a sustainable economy, and environmental projects.
The Head of the Delegation of the European Union in Serbia, Emanuel Giaufret, said that Serbia is between a good and moderate level of preparedness based on economic criteria and emphasized the partnership in the field of trade and investment between Serbia and the EU.&nbsp;Giaufret called for the continuation of structural reforms in order to reduce the share of the state in the economy and improvement of&nbsp;the rule of law in general. He emphasized that the moment to speed up the reform course in Serbia is for the benefit of the economy and citizens.
The fight against corruption and an improved judiciary, as well as reforms in the public administration sector, were of vital importance for improving the investment climate, the EU ambassador said.
Giaufret pointed out that Serbia can continue to rely on the EU and that more than 60 percent of Serbia's total trade is with the EU, which annually gives our country more than 200 million euros in non-refundable grants for projects.
How important the EU market is for the Serbian economy is illustrated by the data that 65 percent of our exports go to the EU and 60 percent of imports from the Union, that 24,000 domestic economic entities trade with the EU, and 10,000 companies with a majority ownership by EU citizens operate in our country.Photo: Tanjug/ Zoran Žestić<div class="article-photo"><img src="https://en-api.pks.rs/storage/assets/Tan2022-10-20_105913479_0 (1).jpg" id="image-tag-1666346102390" data-image-alignment="article-photo" data-image-size-id="original" data-asset-id="729"></div>

The EU is a Strategic Partner of the Serbian Economy

Digital transformation, investments in innovation,&nbsp;research, and development, as well as changing the way of thinking and recognizing "fresh" ideas and human resources within the company, are key to the survival and development of business in the future, said the world-renowned innovation professor Robert Wolcott, at the Executive Masterclass Winning the Future: Proximity, Innovation and the Future of All Business held today&nbsp;the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia.&nbsp;
Wolcott pointed out in particular that emerging technologies and new business models enable companies to provide products and services even closer to the moment of demand thus&nbsp;shortening supplier chains which are increasingly gaining hybrid form.&nbsp;
He believes that part of the current long global supply chains will survive, that part of the business will be linked to regional supply chains, but that thanks to the progress of technology, part of the production will be located closer to consumers.
"We cannot predict the future in detail, but we can see some outlines of the future. Based on the forecast, we can build - a portfolio of the future," Walcott pointed out, adding that&nbsp;Serbia is currently in a phase of development and transition and that this is precisely why excellent business opportunities are being created in our country.
The lecture was given on the importance of the application of digital technologies in business and their impact on industries, as well as the application of the concept of proximity and what it means for businesses and customers
Professor Wolcott is a lecturer at the prestigious American business schools "Chicago Booth" and "Northwestern Kellogg", working&nbsp;closely with global companies such as ZF, Exelon, Castrol, and Johnson Controls, and is an investor in over 20 companies.&nbsp;<div class="article-photo"><img src="https://en-api.pks.rs/storage/assets/Walcott Robert.jpg" id="image-tag-1666187182936" data-image-alignment="article-photo" data-image-size-id="original" data-asset-id="727"></div>