The Serbian Association of Economists and the Vienna Economic Forum organized the Vienna Economic Talks – Belgrade Meeting 2017 under the patronage of the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker. The conference was held on May 21st -22nd 2017 at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia. The main topics of the conference were: improving regional cooperation, potentials for regional investments, as well as a more rapid path toward the EU.

In the years to come, Serbia is supposed to be one of the drivers of regional development, and improving regional cooperation is indeed one of our country’s priorities. All the countries in the region, when observed from the viewpoint of total international trade and investment flows, naturally depend on each other. A higher level of regional cooperation will facilitate and accelerate the road toward the EU, which is a common goal of the entire region.

What is nowadays specific of all the countries in the region are the low growth rates, high public debt, external deficits, high unemployment rate, especially among the youth, as well as a low level of total investments that are supposed to secure the foundation for future growth and development. Economic policies of regional governments need to be focused on structural reforms, development of the private sector and raising the economies’ competitiveness.

In order to catch up with EU’s developed countries, we need a continued growth with much higher growth rates than the ones we have today, and this requires basic postulates of development strategy. Crucial factors are political stability and a predictable macroeconomic environment, but also the overall infrastructural development of the region.

The SAE, which celebrates seven decades of existence this year, shall continue to provide support to projects whose completion is paramount for the future standard of citizens.

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