Stewart: Our agenda is not political, but economic; the Open Balkan makes the regional market more attractive for American companies

The agenda of the American-Central European Business Association is not political, but economic, emphasizes the president of that Association, Eric Stewart, and adds that American President Joseph Biden did not tell him what to do, RTS reports.

Stewart says that some of the largest American companies came to Serbia because they see an opportunity to invest, they want to do business, and their agenda is to make a profit and do business successfully.

"Our agenda is not political, but economic, Joseph Biden did not tell me what to do," Stewart emphasized in response to the question of whether American money came to Serbia with a political price.

Stating that representatives of 16 American companies are in Belgrade this week and that these companies probably represent the capital of several hundred billion dollars in business revenues, Stewart said that this represented a unique opportunity for them to focus only on Serbia.

"And to find ways to do business successfully here," he added.

When asked why there had been a wait until now, Stewart said that now was a good time for it and that companies should feel comfortable investing.

"Companies should be convinced that there is a rule of law; that there is no corruption; that the government supports investments and considers them welcome. It should look for a way to improve business conditions. Serbia is a small country with a difficult environment, there were a lot of conflicts here, and when you look at that all that together - it seems too complicated. American companies were also focused on some other markets. But now we see a change," he said.

He adds that it is noticeable that this government is focused on the West, on America, and that it strives for the European Union, which the US also supports.

The Open Balkan initiative is also positively evaluated because Serbia is not a large economy, and this initiative makes the regional market of the Western Balkans more attractive.

When asked if it had been a mistake that the Rio Tinto project, which had been a member of the American-Central European Business Association, had been stopped in Serbia, Stewart says that he does not know much about the project, but that he knows that Rio Tinto is an excellent American-Canadian company that works all over the world.

"I know they had great investments, great technology to employ a lot of people. The project they are working on is very important, not only in the country where they mine but also for the whole world because something like lithium is important for us to continue using batteries," he added.

Answering the question of whether DFC was a political and economic response to China's Belt and Road initiative, Stewart points out that he does not see any parallels, nor any similarities.

"The Chinese way of doing business is very different from the way the Americans do business. I think DFC focused on Serbia because of so many energy projects that are necessary here," he said.