eGovernment development, countering shadow economy and healthcare digitalization - key reforms for the new Government
Countering shadow economy, more advanced tax system, introduction of digital tools for public administration and businesses (eDelivery, ePayments and eBusiness), as well as for the healthcare sector through the eHealthcare system – these are the reform goals that NALED and its members will nominate to the new Government of Serbia as the priorities for the following year.
The priorities were determined through member voting at 14th annual NALED Assembly, which was organized from 27th to 31st July under the slogan "Together we make a difference”. The importance of this list is best illustrated by the fact that the savings in time and money generated from only four reform measures implemented over the past year, have made an impact on more than two million citizens and businesses.
- Together with NALED, we initiated numerous reforms, and some of them are still ongoing. Thank you for everything we did for the promotion of Serbia, for improving business conditions and the ranking in the Doing Business list. We strengthened youth's position through employment reform and we eased the process of starting a business through the “Start Legally” project. We made great progress in the most complex real estate cadaster reform, seasonal employment reform, and the introduction of eGovernment, thus helping citizens and businesses to find their way through the labyrinth of state administration that no longer makes them act as couriers, but acts as a true service for citizens and businesses – said the Prime Minister Ana Brnabić in a video message presented in a live broadcast of the Assembly closing ceremony.
The President of NALED Managing Board Vladimir Novaković highlighted that the Assembly session was successful even in extraordinary conditions, which confirms the continuity of cooperation within NALED community which is determined to overcome all challenges. Over the past year, out of a total of 180 defined activities, NALED has entirely or partially realized as many as 171, while 13 activities have been realized before the defined deadline.
- The results of our work are felt by around 500,000 citizens annually who buy, sell or inherit real estate. Thanks to elimination of tax returns, since January 2020 they do not have to visit the tax administration counters, which is set to generate savings of 6.5 million EUR in the following four years. The impact is also felt by 37,000 seasonal workers in agriculture who have been hired legally since 2019, with the right to healthcare protection related to occupational injuries, and the right to pension insurance – a number 10 times higher than in 2018 before the online application was introduced. A major change is also felt by approximately 100,000 flat-rate taxpayers, with automated taxation process introducing greater predictability of doing business, and it will be felt by another 1.5 million citizens and businesses following the introduction of 300 new eGovernment services – says Novaković.
One of NALED’s most significant achievements in the previous year was the publishing of the first Grey Book of Healthcare with 50 recommendations for improving this sector. Great success was also achieved in the field of inspection oversight reform, with the development of the eInspector system, and in the midst of Coronavirus epidemic, a unified Contact center for national inspection bodies was introduced, allowing citizens to report irregularities at a single place, which has received more than 4,000 reports so far.
Municipal services have also been improved, and 19 new local governments have confirmed this by obtaining a Business Friendly Certificate (BFC SEE), as a proof of fulfilling the standard of favorable business conditions. NALED also contributed towards the development of cashless payment practices in public administration and the introduction of POS terminals at the counters of 60 cities and municipalities, used by citizens to pay 13,500 fees, charges and taxes in the amount of more than 20 million RSD during a 6-month period.
Within the Start Legally program, beginners have registered 780 businesses with tax exemption for the first year of work. A new Law on Archive Material has been adopted after 120 years, which saves millions of euros a year thanks to the option of saving business documentation online instead of paper form. A new Environment Protection Alliance has been established, bringing together 40 businesses and local governments, and more than 1,500 businesses have been included in the e-registry for the payment of the environment protection fee.
In response to COVID 19, NALED is the first association that sent a set of measures to the Government aimed at preserving jobs and supporting the economy, of which four key have been adopted. Dozens of sectorial recommendations have also been submitted, for agriculture, construction, healthcare. In early April, NALED has launched a platform for donations and supported 41 local governments with 52 tons of food, 67 computes and 140,000 euros for medical and healthcare equipment. During the pandemic, NALED members have donated 2.5 million euros in equipment, food, medicines.
Along with the indicated key topics, the 14th Assembly of NALED bringing together 310 members, determined the following reform priorities – introduction of eSpace system for the adoption of spatial and urban plans and the eAgrar system for electronic registration of agricultural households and awarding subsidies. The focus will be on expanding the system for online registration of seasonal workers to other fields of work and enabling other flexible forms of employment (work via platforms, freelance). NALED will continue working on expanding the scope of fiscalization, developing a public registry of non-tax charges, further development of cashless society, and the empowerment of local government.
NALED Arrow award for supporting economic growth of Serbia
Within the 14th Assembly, key partners from the international community received the “NALED Arrow” - a traditional annual award for supporting economic growth of Serbia. The 2020 laurates are the Ambassador of Israel H.E. Alona Fisher Kamm for her contribution in promoting entrepreneurship, innovation and gender equality; the Head of UK’s God Governance Fund in Serbia Matthew Jordan for eGovernment development, cadaster reform and elimination of property tax returns; GIZ ORF Coordinator for Serbia Zorica Bilić, for improving the business environment and municipal services provided to citizens and businesses; and Western Balkans Director of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Zsuzsana Hargitai, for inspection oversight reform, development of eInspector system and the establishment of a unified Contact center for national inspections.
Below you may watch the video of the closing ceremony of this year's Assembly:
