Serbian key entrepreneurs, the President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, representatives of the Serbian Development Agency, the donor community and other stakeholders gathered to discuss the needs of the Serbian economy in order to identify and launch initiatives that will contribute to achieving the SDGs by 2030.

Ambassador Schmid stated that Switzerland is a long-term and dedicated partner of Serbia and provides support in encouraging sustainable development. "The private sector, especially small and medium enterprises, plays a key role in the process of transformation towards a circular and inclusive economy in Serbia, and we believe that it will continue to develop. After all, it is the SMEs that are strongly anchored in their local communities, and who account for the largest part of overall employment. It is often the SMEs that set the example of how a better future is built - for others to follow," Ambassador Schmid pointed out.

The conference was opened by Ms. Kori Udovicki, President of the Management Board of CEVES, who, during the introductory panel, emphasized that initiatives are being launched today by the SME representatives, who are teaching us how to create a better economic environment. "The Serbian society needs these entrepreneurs because there are too many companies that could have been winners, and yet are not. Things have started to change though, there are good initiatives that affect the attitudes of the state, but we still have a problem with the economic environment, especially towards small and medium enterprises,” emphasized Udovicki.

At the conference, some major systemic challenges, bottlenecks and policies that harm SMEs were discussed at three round tables and two panels. It was noted that even though SMEs in Serbia, as well as in other countries, are the backbone of the economy, having a share in the production of the business sector, excluding agriculture, of some 60% (EUR 14 billion), they still do not enjoy the level of attention and support that larger enterprises enjoy.

In addition, an exhibition followed the discussions and presented the leading domestically owned SMEs in Serbia, companies whose direct export of their own products and services in demanding markets reaches a value of more than EUR 1 million (per company) in the last few years.