Development Agency of Vojvodina begins operating – First RSD 400 million for stimulating new investments soon

The president of the Provincial Government, Igor Mirovic, presented the Development Agency of Vojvodina on Friday, May 12, in the presence of guests from the public, business and political life and diplomatic corps, especially representatives of local and foreign companies and their business associations.

Mirovic pointed out that the agency aimed to attract foreign and local investments and stimulate the opening of new factories and new employments in the territory of Vojvodina.

As reported by the provincial government’s official website, Mirovic pointed out that a system of several segments of operation, guaranteeing the efficiency of the agency in providing incentives, had been established: from a thorough analysis of economic potential in all municipalities, through bringing those potentials closer to potential investors, to creating conditions to invest in Vojvodina.

– If, in addition to thoroughness, some other key words need to be highlighted here, they are “initiative” and “agility”. In the times we live in, there’s always less capital than the need for investing and it simply has to be accessed. The competition in drawing investors is so tough for that reason. It doesn’t come just from the countries in our surroundings, but from other regions and countries as well. What’s more, the competition in drawing investors in Serbia is very stiff as well. To put it simply, everyone wants new factories and new jobs and everyone is fighting to attract those who can create them. We, of course, want new factories and new facilities to be built in Vojvodina and this will be the main task of the Development Agency – Mirovic said and explained the principle of agency’s operations, defined by the decision by the Assembly of Vojvodina on its founding.

The entire process of the agency’s operations will be supervised by the Assembly of the Development Agency of Vojvodina, consisting of the members of the provincial government. Grants will be allocated to future investors by provincial secretaries at public contests, conducted in line with the Law on Investments and the pertinent regulations. The transparency of the whole process will be confirmed through continual filing of relevant reports to the Assembly of Vojvodina. The entire process will be closely coordinated with the Development Agency of Serbia, the Government of Serbia and the competent state bodies and institutions.

A the end of his speech, Igor Mirovic said that the first funds for stimulating new investments, around RSD 400 million, would be provided once the Assembly of Vojvodina adopted the re-balance of the provincial budget, planned for June, whereas the 2018 budget would contain far greater funds for the purpose, making much more room for the agency to work at its full capacity.

The director of the Development Agency of Vojvodina, Natasa Pavicevic-Bajic, presented the agency’s functioning through four sectors. The sector for strategic research, development and innovation policy will research and analyze the business climate in Vojvodina, based on which it will create draft measures of support to the development of economy, agriculture, energy, tourism and the rural sector, with special focus on innovation and technological development. The sector for support to investments will be providing expert advisory support to the existing local and foreign investors, generate new investors’ requests, connect local and foreign companies, work on enhancing the quality of the suppliers’ pool and provide support to business incubators. It will work on increasing the capacities for drawing new investments locally, primarily through educating local self-governments. The sector for international and local funds in the function of the development of Vojvodina will coordinate the provision of budget subsidies on all levels so that they would be used as efficiently as possible and will look for all available financial means from international funds. The sector for promotion will present Vojvodina to local and global public as a region offering good workforce, quality and security to investors and as a region in which big global brands invest in and stay in for a reason.