INTERVIEW
MIHAILO VESOVIĆ, DIRECTOR OF THE DIVISION FOR STRATEGIC ANALYSES, SERVICES AND INTERNATIONALISATION AT THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY OF SERBIA
Strong Ties Weren't Threatened By The Pandemic Considering that the strong growth of economic activities is predicted in Austria for 2021, as well as a recovery of the consumer trend, we should expect the growth of Austrian investments in countries that are its traditional trade partners. That should certainly be seen as an opportunity for Serbia.
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mmediately upon the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic, one of the biggest challenges to maintaining Serbian-Austrian economic cooperation was maintaining unhindered trade activities and enabling unhindered and continuous transport under circumstances that were marked by the introduction of various restrictive measures that related to the partial or complete closing of borders, the introducing of various rules related to the control of the health condition of drivers, the withdrawal of air transport and restrictions on the movements of workers. “It should be emphasised that the outstanding efforts of the Chamber of Commerce &
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Industry of Serbia, through its representative office in Austria, as well as all institutions in the chain of international cooperation that partly participated in creating new procedures and procedures, enabled – under the shortest possible deadline - the continuation of the transporting of goods during this period,” says Mihailo Vesović, Director of the Division for Strategic Analyses, Services and Internationalisation at the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Serbia, continuing: “although trade between the two countries has largely recovered since the first wave of the pandemic, there is a noticeable decrease in consumption among the population, so in
the period ahead we should certainly expect the adopting of measures that would impact positively on the growth of consumption”. • How do the two chambers help connect businesspeople under the new conditions? - Cooperation between the two chambers has remained intensive even under the altered conditions, but it was necessary to introduce new ways of communicating. The beginning of the crisis was marked by constant communication on ways to ensure the continued functioning of transport corridors, as well as the easier implementation of new procedures that accompanied the newly emerged situation.
