US companies seek locations for construction of factories in Serbia - "Boston power", "Pharma LLC", "Matrix engineering" and "Teknuvo" to arrive in Serbia

- American company "Boston power", one of the leading manufacturers of lithium batteries in the USA, is considering few locations in Serbia for opening its production unit. This is only one of four US companies whose representatives are coming to Belgrade on Sunday (November 1, 2009) to meet with the Prime Minister of Serbia, Mirko Cvetković and the Minister of Economy, Mlađan Dinkić, on Monday - people from the Investment and Export Promotion Agency of Serbia (SIEPA) told "Blic".

In addition to "Boston power", the representatives of companies "Pharma LLC", "Matrix engineering" and "Teknuvo" are also coming to Serbia.

- Although the preliminary negotiations with these companies are finished and their serious interest in investment and expansion of their units in Serbia is confirmed, it is still early for speculations on the number of people who will be employed in that way. We will be able to speak about the level of employment and amount of investments once these meetings are over - Aleksandar Miloradović from SIEPA, which organized the visit of the US investors in association with the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development of Serbia, told "Blic".

Miloradović reveals that the American investors will visit several locations that are suitable for construction of their units. "Boston power" is interested in few locations, primarily in the one alongside the Belgrade-Niš highway. Besides, this company plans to enter the automotive market, so that its representatives will have the meeting with the representatives of "Fiat" during the forthcoming visit.

"Pharma LLC" comes from the US biotechnology sector. It is interested in several parcels in Mačva where herbs that are used in production of drugs can be planted. By the way, this is the company that uses special technology to produce basic biocomponents of high value for pharmaceutical and nutrition markets.

The group will also include the representatives of "Matrix engineering", which is interested in "Corridor 10" project since it is one of the leading US companies in the fields of building management, engineering, planning, and transportation.

The group of US investors will also include Milenko Bešlić, the co-founder of Internet service "Cheap today", who now has the new role - the founder of company "Teknuvo", which plans to open its development center in Belgrade.

- Bešlić has already made the decision to open a development center in Belgrade, and he is now seeking location for that center - says Miloradović.

By the way, "Cheap today" is the most famous online service in the USA, and it daily presents the best offers for Internet shopping. The development center that will be opened in Belgrade will employ local programmers, and it will be working for "Cheap today", as well as other online services.

Total value of direct net investments from the United States of America in the period 2001-2008 amounts to 133,409m USD. The USA currently ranks 16th in amount of foreign investments in Serbia, but since the majority of US investments made by companies "Philip Morris", "U.S steel", "Coca-cola" and others have been registered as investments from other countries, the official value of investments is significantly smaller than the true amount. Total real value of the US investments in this period is estimated at over 1.5 billion USD.