The latest issue of the Echo business magazine brings an interview with Ms. Svetlana Stankovic, the Consul General of Serbia in Salzburg. An article headlined "Financial Times: Serbia is the global leader in green field investments" describes the economic potential of Serbia, pointing to the profitability of foreign investments.

Consul General Stankovic underlined that 953 Austrian companies had their businesses in Serbia, adding that the presence of global giants in the Serbian market, such as Siemens, Bosch, Fiat, Continental and many others, best illustrate the fact.

"Potential investors may count on numerous advantages when investing in Serbian economy. Macroeconomic stability, years-long low inflation rate, the highly educated and qualified labour force and the numerous tax and financial benefits guaranteed by the law feature as some of the most important ones", Consul General Stankovic said.

Ms. Stankovic explained in detail the state-granted tax incentives provided when starting business in Serbia and hiring a large number of employees, and she also highlighted the low electricity and postal service charges, especially in comparison to the neighbouring countries and Austria itself.

"Doing business with Serbia gives one access to a market numbering around 1.3 billion people across the world. This has been achieved by way of numerous agreements, including CEFTA, FTAs with Russia, Belarus, Turkey and Kazakhstan, and the opportunity of tariff-free exports to all countries of the EU, EFTA, Japan and Australia. All this has resulted in the fact that the overall worth of foreign investments in Serbia from 2007 to date is around EUR 24 billion", the Consul General stressed.

The Echo is the leading publication in the federal province of Salzburg addressing economic matters. The magazine regularly publishes the listing of 500 most successful enterprises from the territory of this province, which serves as a reference point not only to Austrian, but also to business partners from across the world.