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SOUTH SERBIA NEEDS DEVELOPMENT FUND

20. January 2012.

Leskovac – The hardest thing to do in South Serbia, particularly in the area around Leskovac, as well as in Vranje, Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, is to create new jobs. That is why the most important activity of the business entities from the Jablanica and Pcinj districts is going to be preservation of the current jobs and the ensuring of conditions for the new ones. Goran Jovic, the President of the Regional Chamber of Commerce, also said that 65,000 persons were currently looking for jobs, while 72, 000 persons were employed.

“We concluded a long time ago that agriculture was South Serbia’s chance for development and that is why we backed up an increase in the funds for that sector of the economy”, Mr. Jovic said.

There is currently a lot of uncultivated land in South Serbia, and as there are mostly elderly people living in the villages, is necessary to devise a development policy for that sector of the economy.

“We propose the establishment of the Development Fund for South Serbia, since this would enable the earmarking of a larger amount of funds for the region. As members of the Chamber of Commerce, we supported the idea of providing incentives to foreign investors. We are also of the view that by earmarking considerable funds, not only new jobs would be created, but also the villages would truly develop”, Mr. Jovic said.

Businessmen from South Serbia couldn’t possibly be satisfied with the overall exports in the previous year. Cooperation with the companies from Italy is to continue, as well as with those from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia and Germany. The major exporters include “Simpo”, “Alfa plam”, “Gruner”, “Zdravlje” and a few more companies from Vranje and Leskovac. The companies from Vranje and Leskovac are the biggest exporters.

“Our target points are regional countries, where our businessmen have the greatest chance to export their goods”, Mr. Jovic said.    

He also said that although the Russian market was far-off, it was extremely promising in terms of the marketing of food products, provided a continuous and quality delivery of fruit and vegetables was ensured.