Rebec

This year’s XXIV MIPIM, convinced the expert and professional public that the degree and extent of investments made in the real estate sector have been increased. Finally, the new rules of the game have been accepted; the time of instability and uncertainty is behind us, and today everyone can find a suitable business partner. Compared to the last edition of MIPIM, the news is that Serbia, as a market and an investment destination, after a year-long break, was present with a national exhibition stand.
On approximately 60m2-sized stand, SIEPA (Serbia Investment and Export Promotion Agency), the national agency for the promotion export, organized the joint appearance of two municipalities (the city of Subotica and the city of Zrenjanin) and Aviv Arlon company, a private entrepreneur from Israel, operating in Serbia. It can be said that the performance and appearance of the national stand was well noted and that numerous meetings with potential investors from all over the world were held.
Serbia has been gradually regulating its institutions. New legal solutions are becoming more and more adjusted to the expected solutions applicable globally and regionally. The announcement that Serbia will officially come out of the recession is more than clear, as well as the fact that, up to the first half of 2013, the starting date for the negotiations on Serbia's EU accession will be officially announced.
For the second year in a row, the REMIX-TV crew from Belgrade had the opportunity to make a series of records. With the selected foreign professionals, whose companies are also present in Serbia, although some of them are not directly related to business operations in Serbia, a large number of very high quality and affirmative statements for the Serbian market was collected.
The most frequently confirmed statement was that the interest in investing in Serbia has been noticeably increased. It is overall expected that Serbia will have special additional benefits with the date of Croatia's accession to the EU and that Serbia, as the final "bordering" country of the EU can further improve its investment status, having in mind that all that has to be, in addition, institutionally well-covered.
The highlighted fact was that Serbia is slowly but surely changing in a positive way its, up to now, negative opinion related to its attractiveness for investments in real estate. In addition, it is a young and unregulated market, which makes it therefore tempting. The risks that exist and which are not insignificant enable the realization of higher return of the investment.
In regional terms, as it was concluded on a business assembly in Slovenia in December 2012, Serbia today represents a market that will be most attractive for investments. Also, the opinions were expressed that Serbia should be a leader of the unification of diversities, so that the entire region, in a way, would become a unique investment space. This was especially confirmed by Mr. Edward Jervis, one of the regional directors of MIPIM i.e. Reed MIDEM.
All in all, it can be said that the effect of Serbian representatives in Cannes this year was positive. We now have enough time to prepare for the next the anniversary year of the MIPIM event, and to fully organized, with the emphasis on quality, raise the threshold of success. We have the ball in our court now.