NALED members elect new membership

The Assembly of the National Alliance for Local Economic Development has today elected a new Managing Board that will lead NALED’s initiatives aimed at improving the business environment and strengthening Serbia's competitiveness over the next four years.

The new Managing Board involves five representatives of the business community - Goran Kovačević, General Manager of Gomex, Aleksandar Ružević, General Manager of Coca Cola HBC, Stanka Pejanović, General Manager of Gorenje, Vojislav Genić, Public Sector Director for Central and Eastern Europe in SAP and Vladimir Novaković , General Manager of Apatinska Brewery, three representatives from local governments - Vladan Vasić, Mayor of Pirot, Dušanka Golubović, Mayor of Sombor and Goran Cvetanović, Mayor of Leskovac, as well as Dragana Čukić, member of ACES Board of Directors, as a representative of civil society organizations in NALED.

The Assembly has also elected a new Supervisory Board that includes HR Manager in DIS Marija Gardžić, Mayor of Vrnjačka Banja Boban Đurović, President of Executive Board in Uniqa Insurance Company Gordana Bukumirić, Director in PWC Vladislav Cvetković, and Member of Executive Board in ProCredit Bank Igor Anić.

"Members of NALED have today also defined the countering of shadow economy as the first reform priority of our organization, as well as the reform of the tax system and the reduction of para-fiscal charges, initiatives for cutting the red tape, improvement of local business conditions and the development of e-government," said Goran Kovačević, the President  of NALED Managing Board.

Within the ceremonial part of the Assembly, renowned guests were addressed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlović, Minister of Public Administration and Local Government Ana Brnabić, Minister of Agriculture Branislav Nedimović, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Vladimir Marinković, Head of the World Bank Office Tony Verheijen, Standing IMF Representative Sebastian Sosa, EBRD Director in Serbia Daniel Berg.

"There is not a single department in the Government of Serbia that does not cooperate with NALED. When it comes to the Ministry of Construction, from electronic construction permits to advancing Serbia's position on the Doing Business list, there is no task we haven’t worked on together with NALED. For us this is very important not only because of the knowledge and experience that NALED has, but also because of the support and teamwork and our cooperation will certainly continue" said Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlović.

The ceremonial part of the Assembly presented NALED’s key results in the past year -  the successful introduction of electronic construction permits, contribution to Serbia’s progress to the 47^th position on the World Bank’s Doing Business list, implementation of the prize competition "Get the receipt to win" in the Year of Countering Shadow Economy, improving the business environment in South East Europe through Business Friendly Certification in 70 local governments in five countries in the region.

NALED's award "Arrow" was presented to MP Arpad Fremond, who worked with NALED to exchange good practices with Croatia and Hungary in introducing vouchers for seasonal workers' and strengthening the Agrarian Payments Directorate, as well as the Ambassador of Australia Julia Feeney, who has helped NALED and the Ethno Network preserve Serbia's cultural heritage and traditional handicrafts such as the Pirot and Stapar rugs

Acknowledgments for a decade of support to Serbia's economic development through membership in NALED were awarded to CRH, Deloitte, ITM, Microsoft, Nimax, Telecom Serbia, the cities of Čačak, Kragujevac, Loznica, Pirot and Vršac, the municipalities of Bor and Inđija and Smart kolektiv, which have been members of NALED since day one.