Norwegian-Serbian business forum to start working on October 13 – Aiming to improve economic cooperation of companies

The gathering at the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia in Belgrade on October 13 will mark the official start of the operations of the Norwegian-Serbian business forum, said the ambassador of Norway to Serbia, Arne Sanes Bjornstad.

– The forum has been founded at the initiative of UBQ, one of the largest Norwegian companies in Serbia, which felt the need for a specific network of Norwegian and Serbian companies – the ambassador said.

The event will be attended by representatives of the Government of Serbia and the CCIS, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ambassadors of Norway to Serbia and Serbia to Norway and representatives of Norwegian and Serbian companies.

– There is already the Nordic Business Forum, but it is dominated by large companies, including Telenor. UBQ and some other smaller companies organized a gathering in Belgrade this May, where they presented this idea, and many companies showed interest in it – Bjornstad said.

As he said, some Serbian companies already export to the Norwegian market, mostly as suppliers of Norwegian companies, and there's a possibility of exporting food as well.

– I've always wondered why we could buy Bulgarian or Macedonian ajvar in Norway, but not the one from Serbia. There's a possibility of the export of fruit too, as well as some industrial products. We know that some companies export products for Norwegian producers, but there's no reason why the export shouldn't increase – he said.

One difficulty is that the Norwegian market is remote and relatively small, and the historical bonds of the two countries were more cultural than economic. Also, banks and law firms through which the Norwegian companies are usually operating abroad were not often available in Serbia, he noted.

– Companies here don't have a network to rely on as regards advice and exchange of information and that's what we're trying to establish through this forum – the ambassador says.

Privredna komora Srbije

Vlada Republike Srbije

Yettel d.o.o. Beograd

UBConnect Int doo Novi Beograd

Ambasada Kraljevine Norveške u Beogradu

Norwegian Serbian business forum

Arne Sanes Bjornstad

Nordic Business Forum