FIVE CITIES EXPECT A LOT FROM AMBASSADORIAL TEAMS

The leaders of five Serbian towns (Leskovac, Vranje, Bujanovac, Pirot and Subotica) are of the view that ambassadorial teams, which were introduced by the National Agency for Local Economic Development (NALED) two days ago, would considerably help these towns to attract investors.
  
Each team includes an ambassador of an EU country, a representative of a large company and the mayor/president of a specific town/municipality.

Leskovac will be provided assistance by Franc But, the Slovenian Ambassador to Serbia, Director of the US can-manyfacturing company in Serbia „Ball Packaging“ and by Leskovac’s Mayor  Slobodan Kocic. 
„I’m very pleased that we have a „dream team“. Leskovac has been successfuly cooperating with Slovenain companies for several years. We understand each other very well  and we have a similar vision of regional development. Ambassador But was Minister of Agriculture in the period prior to Slovenia’s  EU accession, and that’s why we believe that he is going to be pretty useful to us. We are equally satisfied with the fact that „Ball Packaging“ is going to assist us, since it is a well-known manufacturer in the world, which invests increasingly more in recycling“, said Slobodan Kocic, the mayor of Leskovac.  Franc But, the Slovenian Ambassador to Serbia, said that he would immediately start talks with those who he supposes  would open plants in Leskovac.  He will primarily lobby the companies dealing with agriculture and rural tourism. 

„Leskovac has got an ideal geographical position for agricultural production and it is situated next to the highway to Greece. I hope that I will be able to help some serious fruit or vegetables – manufacturing company come to the city. In my opinion, Leskovac has got a chance of developing itself through rural tourism. We did that very well in Slovenia, so that the same recipe might be used here”, Ambassador But said.

Ther mayor of Vranje, Miroljub Stojcic, believes that establisghment of the ammbassadorial team (Slovakia and the „Aseko“ corporation) would be useful for around  2,500 companies in Vranje. 
„I think that the fact that Slovakia is a member of the ambassadorial team selected for Leskovac is extremely good for us, because it has recently completed transition and, therefore, has a lot of experience of it. It is also an EU member country, which means that our city and businessmen in it will have a better access to information and to pre-accession EU funds”, Mr. Stojcic said.  

According to Sreten Savov, Deputy President of the Municipality of Pirot, this is a huge chance for Pirot to develop its potentials in the fields of tourism, cattle-breeding and industry. Members of the Pirot ambassadorial team include Spain and “VIP Mobile”.

„This is also an opportunity for us to promote our brands, such as Pirot’s  hard cheese,  lamb, hand-made rugs etc. The fact that Pirot is one of the few cities in Serbia that has a certificate of a favorable investment climate is  a further guarantee to all potental investors“, Mr. Savov said.

Bujanovac is also  extremely satisfited  with the ambassadorial team selected for it. The team is made up of Portugal and Hypo Alpe Adria Bank.

„Our municipality has been preparing itself for this for a long time. We met all the requirements set by the open competition. We also  spent a great deal of time  and  energy because we believed that we would, in that way, better use our potentials. For us,  this concretely means   that we’ll be presented  to future investors in a better way. We expect to have the first results of copperation by the end of the year, as well as the implementation of two  large projects, and, most importantly, the opening of new working places for both Serbs and Albanians“, said Saip Kamberi, President of the municipality of Bujanovac.  

Subotica, which will be taken care of by Israel and the „Tigar“ Company, is also very pleased with the ambassadorial team members. Subotica’s leadership expect that new  invesrors would come to the city  and that employment would get higher.