Kirby: Serbian government made progress in economy

BELGRADE - US Ambassador to Serbia Michael Kirby said on Friday the Serbian government had taken many steps in a good direction when came to improving the business environment, adding that the expected adoption of the new laws on planning and construction and on inspections would continue this trend.

The US will continue to help Serbia with key reforms, he said at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, where he was for the presentation of the results of the 4th USAID Survey project for bettwen business conditions in Serbia.

The government has already adopted an important labour law and raised the ability of the economy to compete internationally, improved the business environment, increased the employment rate and reduced the size of the gray economy, he noted.

He expects the laws on planning and construction and on inspection to facilitate new investments, raise financial discipline and bring savings.

Serbia needs more foreign investments, and the results of this year's survey show that 17 percent of companies believe that corruption has a significant impact on their business, which is considerably less than in 2011, when 41 percent of companies said the same, and 2012, when the percentage was 33, Kirby pointed out.

Inspections are now less of a burden for the economy; they are less frequent, 1.6 on average this year, compared to 6 in 2011, the ambassador stated.

Serbia still has bureaucratic issues, he noted, adding that as many as 65percent of companies did not use foreign funding sources and only 1 percent used leasing for financing.

The gray economy and slow court procedures are still present, with 60 percent of companies saying that they have experienced negative aspects of the...