Law Office Sekulović, which in the last few years has also focused on developing strategies to attract foreign investors, hopes that economic flows will soon return to normal
The new investment cycle aims not only to resolve issues related to climate change, but also to create prospects for new economic development with the aim of reducing uncertainty.
COVID-19 has had an extremely negative impact on cross-border investment worldwide. Is recovery on the horizon?
It remains too early to say whether the pandemic has been overcome, considering the situation in countries like India and Brazil. There are nonetheless reasons for optimism and its seems that there is light at the end of the tunnel. A question remains as to what effects the measures taken by various governments to support the economy and consumer spending will have, while one of the main unknowns is the issue of the appearance of inflation on the global front.
Have you managed to renew negotiations and deals that ground to a halt when the pandemic began?
Negotiations have been continuing the whole time, albeit at a slower pace due to the impossibility of direct contacts between stakeholders. Due to the pandemic, investors have been more focused on sustaining existing projects than on implementing new ones.
In order to foster new investments there should be a redefining of the system of economic incentives considering that the measures implemented to date were aimed primerelly to decrease unemployment. The opening of labour-intensive industrial plants over the past few decades has led to a significant increase in employment levels. In that sense, instruments for stimulating economic development should enable the development of 21st century technologies and the transition to a green economy, with greater added value in final products, which will also mean the properly valuing of local knowhow and expertise.
