This year's Kopaonik Business Forum, its 31st edition, was attended by the highest number of participants so far, 1600 of them, and a total of 42 sessions were held which saw discussions on different economic and social issues in times of crisis.

The Serbian Davos is more than just a business forum. It is a place for academic debate, which has also been confirmed by participation of domestic and foreign eminent representatives of the academia. Many topics relevant to social development were introduced, but without neglecting the traditional macroeconomic subjects, as well as those pertaining to certain industries. This was a way to freshen up and modernize the agenda, and the attendees had also the opportunity to listen to panel discussions dedicated to education, artificial intelligence, creative industries, climate change, labor market, gender equality, female business leaders, the role of sports in business and society, the youth – Z and Alpha generations, ESG criteria, Digital Serbia Initiative, the future of the automotive industry. In addition to this, the Forum also presented results of the Corporate Reputation Index, EXPO 2027, Advanced Technologies Forum, as well as the initiatives of the Novi Sad Fair.

Kopaonik Business Forum 2025 will be held from 2nd to 5th of March.

The main conclusion, according to Aleksandar Vlahović, President of the Serbian Association of Economists, is that the year ahead of us remains uncertain.

"The entire world, but first and foremost Europe and Serbia, are in a state of poly-crisis caused primarily by the Covid-19 pandemic and then also by the war in Ukraine and the war in the Middle East. The previously formed global supply chains have not been fully reestablished yet. Serbia needs to continue with its monetary policy that managed to curb inflation, which is expected to reach approximately 3% by the end of the year, it needs to conduct a responsible fiscal policy that will primarily improve the efficiency of capital project management", Vlahović stressed and added that it was necessary to improve the program budgeting principle and to work on creating fiscal buffers in order to create space for a responsible potential fiscal crisis.

It is necessary to continue with the reforms of public enterprises.

"We have heard that these reforms are under way, which means that next year we will have a much more visible progress in terms of business and financial consolidation, Serbia's budget and the budget of large public enterprises. At the same time, it is necessary to work on improving the ambience, on the promotion of building the quality of institutions, and here I am primarily referring to independent institutions and those that are related to the market and rule of law. Serbia needs to invest in education, because education in the digital age, in the age of Industry 4.0, requires a different approach based on the lifelong learning principle, developing creativity and adaptability, because without human resources there is no way to achieve future growth."

Vlahović also added that it was necessary to work on the healthcare reform.

"Our demographics are not favorable. We have an ageing population, which places massive pressure on the healthcare system. It needs to be reorganized in line with a very clear agenda of reforming the healthcare system."

At the end of this year's Forum, Vlahović stated:
"I expect the year ahead of us to be somewhat more relaxed and easier when it comes to the standard of living. That is primarily because the inflation will be lower and because it is expected that the European Central Bank will reduce the loan rates and interest rates halfway into this year, which altogether will make the loans more affordable and thus, among other things, alleviate the lives of our citizens in the upcoming year."