27. 05. 2013
Closer economic cooperation is a prerequisite of joint progress and higher competitiveness of the region and performance at third markets, participants of the Summit100 concluded. That message of the most influential business leaders was supported by officials of the government of the countries in the region on the second day of the event.

An optimistic tone of the Summit conclusions may be defined via the message of NIS CEO Kirill Kravchenko, who said that economic analyses showed that the Balkan region is one of the most attractive ones for investing in the entire Europe. To make investments possible, it is necessary to answer some of the questions of the participants, such as President of MK Group Miodrag Kostić, who said that cooperation in agribusiness required harmonisation of standards, mutual recognition of certificates and transport without delays among countries. Commenting on conclusions of the roundtable on the energy sector, President of Rudnap Group Vojin Lazarević said that there was no room for further debts and investments, adding that optimisation in that sector was necessary, while a priority in tourism was to ensure safety for foreign investments, as well as for service users, who needed equal standards, with a regional platform for the tourist offer, as concluded by President of Croatian concern Sunce Jak Andabak.
Within the central topic of the Summit, “New Deal for a New Age”, Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dačić invited entrepreneurs and Governments of the region to find a common interest. Dačić proposed the establishment for joint consultancy body, following an example of the Scandinavian council, in order to better represent common interests. A special guest of the event, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Đukanović, sees the Southeast European region as a stable part of Europe in the next decade. Đukanović said that the countries of the region should be open to become inspiring for renowned investors, adding that with a smart policy the region should help relaunch the idea of united Europe in its original meaning. In his letter addressed to the event participants, Croatian President Ivo Josipović concluded that each country in the region was finally aware of the fact that business cooperation was a prerequisite of common progress. President of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Vjekoslav Bevanda said that the task of the politicians in the region was to create a positive environment for successful cooperation, based on mutual interests. Minister of Economic Development and Technology of Slovenia Stanko Stepšnik concluded that closer cooperation was a prerequisite of economic progress and faster Euro integration process in the Western Balkans. One of the speakers at the event was also Deputy Minister of Economy of the FYRM, who concluded that the politicians expressed willingness to accept proposals of the business community.
It is time to eliminate barriers which increase costs of business operations and slow down economies of the countries in the region, as concluded at the Summit100, whose participants agreed that both good will and specific actions were required to achieve that goal.