Last year started well for JBAS, with many ambitious plans, but 2020 was ultimately all about supporting our members and a society in crisis!
23rd January 2020
HIGH-TECH MEETING
A high-tech meeting was held with Nenad Paunović from the Government of Serbia’s Office for Information Technology and eGovernment.
This meeting saw the Office for Information Technology and eGovernment of the Government of Serbia present its achievement and development plans, while member companies of the JBAS High-Tech Committee – Allied Telesis, Division Digital Solutions, Epson, eSmart Systems, Fujitsu, Hitachi, ICL Services, NES Communications, NTT Data, Typhoon HIL and SoftRoadsApps – presented the latest technologies coming from Japanese companies, a good amount of which are made in Serbia.
24th January 2020
LECTURES ON JAPANESE CULTURE
Thank to Japanese company SRA IT, JBAS members had an opportunity to regularly attend lectures on Japanese culture. The first lecture is currently available and takes us on a journey from ancient Japan and the middle ages, to the Edo and Meiji periods!
30th January 2020
TAX NOVELTIES IN 2020
In cooperation between JBAS and the French-Serbian Chamber of Commerce, and with the support of TPA Serbia, a seminar on Tax novelties in 2020 was organised for members of these two business associations. Participants had an opportunity to learn more about the new introductions in the fields of VAT and tax amortization, and to receive more information about tax incentives for companies engaged in innovation from the aspect of corporate and personal income tax, as well as other tax incentives from the aspect of personal income tax.
20th February 2020
VI REGULAR JBAS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The session of the 6th regular JBAS General Assembly took place at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology. The JBAS members gathered on this occasion were greeted by Ljiljana Marković Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty of Philology.
26th February 2020
AERO POLLUTION WEBINAR
An aero pollution webinar, with the “Batut” Public Health Institute and JBAS member company EuroCons, presented facts about the basic human right to breathe, including very interesting information such as the fact that humans inhale 15kg of air daily.
1st March 2020
BALKAN JAPAN BOWL 2020
JBAS supported the organisation of BALKAN JAPAN BOWL 2020, an original competition intended for students of the Japanese language and culture in the Balkan region. The final event of the competition was held at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology, while the honorary judges of the 2020 competition were H.E. Junichi Maruyama, Ambassador of Japan, and Naoki Tsukada, one of the founders of JBAS and a member of the JBAS Board of Directors representing the Mitsubishi Corporation. The contest was also supported by JBAS founding member JTI and JBAS member Go Sushi.
3rd March 2020
INTERNATIONAL COFFEE BREAK
The International Coffee Break event, organised jointly by eleven bilateral business associations operating in Serbia, was held within the framework of the Kopaonik Business Forum. Guest participants gathered with the goal of meeting each other and networking, while they also had an opportunity to meet representative of the business associations and learn more about their activities.
19th March 2020
LAW ON PUBLIC PROCUREMENT WEBINAR
A webinar organised with the support of the Gecic Law firm enabled JBAS members to learn more about what the new Law on Public Procurement, as well as receiving information on the extent to which the public procurement mechanism is applicable due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
16th April 2020
ONLINE GATHERING REGARDING ECONOMIC MEASURES FOR COVID
The implementation of the COVID-19 economic measures webinar, aimed at enabling discussion of the implementation of COVID-19 economic measures intended to mitigate the health crisis, saw specialists of the Crowe RS tax department provide their insight for JBAS members.
18th June 2020
DIALOGUE 4.0 WITH THE TAX ADMINISTRATION
Representatives of four foreign business communities in Serbia – French, German, Italian and Japanese – discussed novelties in tax administration procedures with Mrs Nataša Mirković, Head of the Customs Procedures Department at the Serbian Tax Administration, with member companies submitting practical questions to her.
2nd July 2020
HOW TO GROW YOUR DIGITAL WEBINAR
The digital marketing specialists and influencers of JBAS member company Olaf&McAteer took us on a digital journey and shared their latest insights and recommendations regarding digital communications for the post-COVID future, with the 59-minute webinar entitled ‘How to grow your digital presence’.
7th July 2020
JBAS AUTOMOTIVE GROUP MEETING
The meeting of the JBAS automotive group brought us some good news and put us in a positive mood for the period ahead. JBAS member companies are working on organising future events, opening new offices and showrooms and promoting new models, while some are even working on investment projects – all in all, great things to be welcomed!
11th July 2020
WEBINAR ON APPLICATION OF PREVENTATIVE MEASURES RULEBOOK
In order to provide further support to JBAS members and keep them updated and ready for regulatory changes, a webinar on application of the Rulebook on preventative measures for a safe working environment and the prevention of infectious diseases was held, together with the team of JBAS member company Gecic Law.
24th July 2020
JBAS BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sometimes a relaxed and pleasant chat to check up on how JBAS members are coping with the crisis and discuss measures to support them is more than a good reason to gather – JBAS Board of Directors.
30th July 2020
ONLINE HR MEET-UP
In partnership with JBAS member company ManpowerGroup, an online HR meet-up was held. This event also marked the launch of activities within the newly established JBAS HR group. Participants had an opportunity to receive detailed information about labour market trends, challenges, the tendencies and specifics of different industries on the market, as well as different levels of position within the organisational structure, but they were also able to learn more about solutions and best market practices as a response to the current health and economic challenges.
20th August 2020
JBAS DONATIONS!
Representatives of JBAS and the B92 Fund delivered 10 flow meters worth 320,000 dinars to the Zvezdara Clinical Hospital Centre. A previous donation – providing 10 flow meters each for the General Hospital in Ćuprija and the General Hospital in Šabac – was made with JBAS members Vossloh-Schwabe Serbia and Yazaki Srbija. Representatives of JBAS member companies also personally provided funds for the purchase of an additional five flow meters.
These flow meters represent only part of a larger donation provided by the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic in cooperation with its members, equating to total donations exceeding a value of €137,000. JBAS member companies also donated medical equipment and protective supplies, hygiene packages, food and support related to receiving medical treatment and providing mobility.
The donations provided haven’t come only in the form of money and goods, but have also included the direct engagement of companies’ employees. Beneficiaries have included the Serbian Ministry of Health, the National Health Insurance Fund, General Hospital Vršac, The Dr Dragiša Mišović Clinical-hospital Centre Dedinje, Senta Hospital and other hospitals, the Institute for Maternal and Child Health Protection in Belgrade, Patients organisations for IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Diseases) – UKUKS, NORBS (National Organisation for Rare Diseases in Serbia ), beneficiaries of the UNICEF support programme and members of the most vulnerable sections of the population that were additionally impacted by the COVID-19 crisis (homeless, over-65s, people with disabilities, children and low income families).
SERVICES WERE PROVIDED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR TO MEMBERS, IN COOPERATION WITH THE KAIZEN GROUP AND KAIZEN INSTITUTE
In the spirit of the famous Japanese business philosophy of continuously improving working practises and personal efficiency, events, workshops, webinars and lectures were given all year long, with the participation of speakers such as Takeda’s Milena Argirović, JTI’s Goran Pekez, Toyota’s Robert Lukić and many others.