"Open Balkans" consolidates peace in the region and contributes to the economic growth of the member countries

"Open Balkans", the visionary initiative of the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, is extremely important for the member countries, both politically and economically.

The importance of the initiative is reflected in the strengthening of regional cooperation, further integration into a complete single economic zone and economic growth of the member countries, but also strengthening of peace and stability in the region. The initiative will facilitate business between countries thanks to the significantly accelerated flow of goods and services, the creation of a single labor market and better business conditions for companies. This will inevitably lead to faster economic development and the strengthening of our economies, and therefore to the growth of the entire region and a higher standard of living of all citizens.

Regional economic integration should lead to the creation of a single economic space, which would attract long-term investments in economic branches with greater added value, and this would result in a greater inflow of investments, improvement of entrepreneurial activity, trade and the creation of new jobs.

With the agreements signed as part of the "Open Balkans" initiative, we are solving important issues for the economy and citizens. This is especially important today, at a time of global crisis, because cooperation when dealing with key issues of interest to our countries and the region as a whole is necessary.

Thanks to this initiative, we create free access to the labor market in the Western Balkans, and the goal is the possibility of employment in all three countries without issuing work permits. In addition, the establishment of high-speed lanes at border crossings facilitates the business of the economy and accelerates the flow of goods. Our goal is that the trucks do not wait for hours at the borders, but that all the necessary procedures are carried out quickly and efficiently, which is another way to influence the improvement of the economic environment.

As part of the initiative, we have other agreements, which refer to, for example, cooperation in the veterinary, phytosanitary, food, and animal feed safety areas in the Western Balkans, with the aim of facilitating the movement of goods and reducing the retention time of goods due to the application of border procedures during export-import and transit of goods. The Agreement on cooperation in the field of mutual recognition of diplomas and academic grades is also very important, which will facilitate and speed up the process of mutual recognition of higher education diplomas between the contracting states.

For me, as the Minister of Finance, the Memorandum of Understanding on the cooperation of the tax administrations of the Western Balkans is particularly important, and our common goal is to improve and modernize the work of the tax administrations, exchange experiences and improve work on the prevention, detection and suppression of tax evasion in the region.

I must point out that, although the results of the cooperation, that is, the "Open Balkans" initiative, can already be seen, it can always be better, and I believe that in the future the cooperation will reach an even higher level.

The implementation of the various measures foreseen in the signed agreements will bring, first, quick, concrete and clear results, which will be visible to our citizens, our companies, will lead to a much greater flow of goods and people, will reduce business costs and will increase the competitiveness of the companies- domestic and foreign. All this will contribute to faster and sustainable development of our economies.

Written by: Sinisa Mali, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and Minister of Finance