The Foreign Investors Council (FIC) held its first ”Dialogue for Change” this year in Hilton Belgrade hotel, dedicated to labour regulations. The format has been changed compared to last year’s events being now a closed, high-level event, which gathered only CEOs of top FIC employers, the Minister of Labour Zoran Đorđević and Assistant Minister Bojana Stanić.
The primary aim of this event was to reach a better understanding of how to formulate labour regulations which will stimulate employment and at the same time better protect both the rights of the employers and the employees. As an association that promotes EU values and principles, the FIC gives recommendations which should bring EU standards to the Serbian labour market. These entail on one side making business processes more relaxed by streamlining unnecessary administration, but on the other hand also improving monitoring and sanctioning of those companies that do not respect the law and rights of the workers. Another critical factor is the further development of the education system which can provide quality labour force and thus attract more innovative and technologically advanced industries to the Serbian market.
The discussion with the Minister and Assistant Minister was a strategic one, where CEOs of some of the most significant employers on the market openly shared their personal experiences and opinions. Their key message was that the local labour force represents one of the key advantages of the Serbian market and that there is a significant potential to make Serbia one of the most attractive investment destinations.
Both sides recognised that only by investing joint efforts we could make a big step forward in business climate improvement. We all remember 2014 when we all jointly made a significant breakthrough in the Labour Law! More relaxed labour regulations coupled with more strict inspection oversight can undoubtedly bring benefits to the country, its citizens and would attract more investments into Serbia.