REBEC 2025: New horizons of logistics and industry development in SEE – Our region still very interesting to foreign companies

Investors have good reasons to come to Serbia. Our country, according to logistics and industry experts, is suitable in terms of price, permits, infrastructure... On the other hand, the problem of borders and customs is seen as a negative thing. Not only Serbia, but the entire region of Southeast Europe is still very interesting to companies from other parts of our continent, and it seems that it will be especially so in the coming years, not only because of the cheaper labor force but also because of the large number of experts, says the panel New Horizons of Logistics and Industry Development in SEE, which was held at this year’s REBEC 2025 conference.

– Serbia is attractive. Everything is much, much simpler here. You know, investments are still welcome. There is still available labor force. It is cheaper. In addition, people are very educated. You know, the infrastructure has been in place for a long time, sometimes you are surprised at how quickly things happen. You know, many countries in Europe just talk, talk. But things are happening here. I think that investments should be made here now. And if you invest now, if you invest now, you will get good results in the future – believes Jiri Suremka, Managing General Partner at complexRE from the Czech Republic.

Nikola Miletic, Deputy Director at Termoinzenjering, also expressed a positive view regarding the business environment in Serbia, what our country can offer, both in terms of strategic position and talent base.

– Also, I think that operating costs are perhaps lower or similar to those in the region. Also, I know that Serbia has done a lot in terms of free trade agreements with many countries, offering a huge market for potential buyers. It is good to invest in Serbia now. But what is challenging is the process of issuing permits related to greenfield projects. What is also noticeable is that the EU, which was the largest investor in Serbia, has now slowed down with investments. And so, when I look back at my company, as a general contractor for this type of project, we feel this lack of projects this year and last year. But there are many, many things that we can do differently now – Miletic emphasized.

At the panel, moderated by Alexander Samonig, the speakers reminded that Serbia was not part of the European tax system, but that the country certainly had to play by the rules, because if the procedures were not followed, one couldn’t get green bonds, which are cheaper than regular financing.

Samuel Sura, co-founder and CEO of Salvis from Slovakia, said that they had decided to focus on Serbia because their clients are moving to Serbia.

– I am more familiar with the Central European market, and these clients from Central Europe, they are very enthusiastic about Serbia and other countries of the former Yugoslavia. So, they all come here, and we kind of follow them. Because they have their own standards. They have financing from Western European banks. And those banks, in order to give them money for these projects, want the projects to be adapted and aligned with climate change. Last year I was in Vienna with my business partner, Goran, and everyone was talking about Serbia. When I introduced Goran to the people at that forum, everyone wanted to talk to him. So, I felt that there was a huge enthusiasm for Serbia and other countries of the former Yugoslavia. There may be a slowdown now, partly because of the current instability in Serbia. But I think that, once that is resolved, European capital will start to come back to Serbia because of the level of enthusiasm that is really tangible. And on our side, it will take a lot of education to teach the local market what sustainability means, how to make buildings climate-proof and so on – Sura pointed out.

Suremka assessed that whenever there are challenging times for investments, there are always winners and losers.

– And I think you just have to prepare for the situation. Building intermodal corridors, intermodal terminals is very important. Maybe Serbia has a little difficulty because of these borders. But if you are an industrial company, I think Serbia will always be on the top list because of regulations. Let's remember the crisis of 2008. Then there was a complete influx of new industrial projects into the Czech Republic from Western Europe, because Western Europe became too expensive. So many companies simply flooded the Czech Republic and the country flourished. So, every crisis entails losers and winners. If it is approached wisely, I think it could lead to good results for Serbia – believes Suremka.

Nikola Miletic estimates that more sophisticated industry would come to Serbia, especially companies that know how to recognize talents and engineering.

– Serbia is building its infrastructure and I think Serbia has the opportunity to build infrastructure for the current climate. Not for the climate we had 20 or 30 years ago, but for the climate we have now. So, climate change is not something that will happen in the future. The climate has already changed and will continue to become more extreme. And it is not happening somewhere else. It is happening right here in Belgrade right now and it will continue to happen. So, the certification systems that we work with, they tell you how to predict climate change and how to design infrastructure, including industrial infrastructure, so that you can withstand extreme weather conditions, such as extreme rain, extreme heat waves, extreme drought... So, I think it is good that these things are not seen as legal regulations or some kind of bureaucracy, but as knowledge about how to build infrastructure that will last in a climate that has already changed. Serbia has a great opportunity to draw on this knowledge and build infrastructure so that it is ready for a changed climate – Sura pointed out.

The panel also noted that more and more investors were investing in solar power plants, because they have a lot of land, and they wanted to reduce energy costs, of course, in the long term. But the panelists warned that there was a problem with permits, which take more than 18 months to obtain, even though the money was there, even though the photovoltaic panels were there.

It was also estimated that robotization would have a very big impact on logistics in the years ahead.

D. A.

Festlent d.o.o. Beograd

Termoinženjering d.o.o. Beograd

REBEC

REBEC 2025

Salvis

complexRE

Alexander Samonig

Jiri Suremka

Nikola Miletić

Samuel Sura

logistics