On 21 November, National Assembly Vice-Chairman, Rade Obradovic, met with World Bank South East Europe Co-ordinator, Orsalia Kalantzopoulos, to discuss the course of economic and political reforms in Serbia.
The meeting heard that good results had been achieved, and that Serbia was irrevocably on course to becoming a more developed market economy.

Ms Kalantzopoulos said that positive privatisation results had contributed significantly to Serbia’s budget; she went on to say that it would be desirable to use these assets in reducing foreign and domestic debt, rather than for restitution of nationalised property. She underlined that Serbia needed to establish a mechanism for good budget planning and expense control, as well as professional, high-quality auditing services and transparency in decision-making.
She offered co-operation in drafting a realistic development strategy, adding that investment into infrastructure should be awarded priority in the future. Privatisation income should also be carefully spent in the real sector.
The meeting agreed that a great deal had been done to improve capacities of the executive branch, and that special attention needed to be devoted in the future to parliamentary capacity-building as well.

The discussion touched on Kosovo and Metohia. Mr Obradovic stressed that the issue needed to be resolved through dialogue, and warned of the ‘unfathomable consequences’ of a solution imposed by the international community.