Round Table discussion on Serbian-Hungarian economic relationships, held in Belgrade on 1.06.2018.

It seems that the time has come to significantly strengthen Hungarian-Serbian economic cooperation. Hungarian and Serbian companies are searching for new investment opportunities, in addition to which Hungarian companies are already taking part in Serbian privatisation and infrastructure projects.  Last year, bilateral trade flow was almost two billion euros, thanks to which Hungarian exports (to Serbia) also achieved an increase of 20 percent in 2017.

Eximbank has opened a credit line of   EUR 61 million for Serbian and Hungarian businesses. This is not a final figure, however: once it is spent it will be extended, meaning that there will be no financial obstacles to Hungarian-Serbian cooperation, and all the conditions for thriving businesses will be in place.

 Serbia is on the threshold of a major period of growth. The figures speak for themselves, Serbia’s boom is imminent,  and consequently there are now far greater economic opportunities for investors than at any earlier time. In recent years a significant amount of Hungarian capital has accumulated, which is in search of investment opportunities. Furthermore as the political conditions are now in place, practical measures should be enacted, the language of business should come to the forefront, and projects which serve the best interests of the two countries should be implemented.

 Proactive Management Consulting (PMC), Hungarian consultancy, headquartered in Budapest, and its subsidiary, PMC Serbia, therefore, initiated a Round Table discussion on the state and perspective of Serbian-Hungarian economic relationships, which took place in Belgrade’s hotel Falkensteiner.

 The objective of the round-table discussion was to highlight the current gaps and perspectives of economic cooperation between  Serbia and Hungary. It includeed a discussion about partnering opportunities between interested companies on both sides.

 PMC is one of the leading Hungarian independant consultancies with vaste experience and references in the field of management and strategy consulting.  Founded in 2002., PMC established its presence in Serbia in 2014., with a view to exted PMC’s core business – to provide top-notch consulting advice to domestic and foreign companies in Serbia, by leveraging the resources, knowledge and experience from its mother company – the PMC in Hungary.

 The Round Table attracted significant attention as, besides PMC representatives from Serbia and Hungary, the representatives from the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, the Serbian Export Credit and Insurance Agency (AOFI), the National Alliance for Local Economic Development, as well as many interested companies, also took part in this event.

The discussion at the Round Table was moderated by Mr. Miodrag Salai, the Managing Partner od PMC in Serbia, while the keynote speakers were Dr.Tibor Hejj, the owner of PMC group in Hungary, and Dr.Janos Matuz, partner and leading expert on project management related to EU funding. 

While the core discussion of the Round Table was centered around finding ways to boost efforts on both sides, in order to make the bilateral economic cooperation grow even faster, one of the topics which stood out, was about EU funding and Hungarian experiences in this respect, which may be of great use to Serbia in its own EU Agenda.

 In this respect, representatives of PMC presented many usefull details, based on the current PMC’s portfolio of projects funded by EU, what are the key areas that need focusing, in order to be successful in utilization of these funding opportunities.

In relation to this topic, one of the key findings of the Round Table discussion is that there are vaste opportunities to improve the cooperation between the two countries in this area, most of all through the transfer of know how in identifying projects which can qualify for funding as well as project management skills which specifically relate to projects funded by EU, which is also one of the core competencies of Proactive Management Consulting.

As noted by Mr.Miodrag Salai, Managing Partner of PMC in Serbia, after the major sucess of political leadership of the two countries in raising the bilateral relationship to the historically highest level, this fact should be understood just as an opened door for businessman, consultants, experts as well as both governments, with their own tools, to take bolder actions in order to convert this „political capital“ into measurable economic results, while the political elites should contniue to focus on securing the long term sustainability in overall bilateral relationships between Serbia and Hungary.

In addition, Mr.Salai pointed out that there is an obvious need to find ways how to better identify those economic sectors, where the two countries can realize important synergetic effects, both in the bilateral and multilateral economic cooperation, such as the possibility of joint activity and apperance in the third markets, especially given Serbia’s specific position in several markets, where it has free trade agreements.

 Other key messages from the Round Table are:

 –      Inspite of all the challenges in both countries, it is necessary to boost cooperation in the area of EU integrations, where Hungary can help.

–      Insist on more active role of both governments in providing support to the bearers of cross border cooperation of Serbia and Hungary, especially within EU programs. (A good example is that Hungary and Serbia have been awarded three million euros in European Union funding for the planning of the Szeged-Szabadka-Baja railway line, and both parties hope that following the planning stage, construction can also begin on this railway line, which is also extremely important from an economic and national strategy perspective.)

–      Try to find ways to develop and implement a specific strategy in Serbia, on how to attract multinationals present in Hungary to extend their „production chains“ to Serbia (a good example is the automotive industry)

–      Given the current level of investments from Hungary, which is still on the modest side, find ways to raise interest of Hungarian investors to invest in Serbia. (one of teh examples mentioned, was tourism and spa management)

Proactive Management Consulting Ltd. (PMC) was founded in 2002 by Mr. Tibor Héjj, former International Vice President and Principal of the Budapest Office of A.T. Kearney. PMC is a result and value oriented consulting enterprise with strong backbone of both domestically and internationally experienced employees. Our company has direct working relations with large multinational consulting companies as well as domestic corporations providing general or specific services promoting the daily operation of corporations. Our firm offers a range of expert and price solutions tailored to the specific demands of our clients, in-line with market offerings and adopting a result-oriented approach, working either independently or jointly with other experts depending on the nature of the project. Therefore at PMC, we seek to “sell” not merely consultants’ days, but to take a share in the clients’ risk, following a project from beginning to end, all the while in close cooperation with our clients.

Information and Conclusions on the Roundtable event are available at:  www.p-m-c.rs

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