The Chairman of the Committee on the Economy, Regional Development, Trade, Tourism and Energy Veroljub Arsic thanked the representatives of the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications and the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, who were the initiators of the public hearing, as well as the MPs, representatives of the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Mining and Energy, representatives of the Commission for Protection of Competition, prominent businessmen, representatives of the Consumers Protection Association and journalists dealing with economy and trade for coming. He said that this was the second public hearing organised by this Committee in the current legislature.

In his introductory address, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Dr Vladimir Orlic emphasised the importance of the by now well-established practice of public hearings. He stressed that this clearly shows, not only to the professional but to the general public as well, what the state is doing and planning, opening up the possibility for everyone to send a comment or proposal, and help reach the best possible solution.

"This type of work is one of the most important examples of the essential difference in the attitude toward work, as well as to the state and society, which we show today, compared to some previous times," Orlic said. He especially emphasised the importance of the public hearing’s topic - this strategic document in the field of economy and trade.

"Daily politics pushes this type of topic into the background. The focus is primarily on purely political topics, such as the referendum and the upcoming elections, perhaps mostly because at least two, if not three groups of different parties that have decided to take part in the elections have already channelled their efforts into election campaigns - in the street. But we are showing that we will not allow their daily politics and everything that goes into it to push issues such as the economy and trade, and above all the strategic development of the country, into the background, that we are dealing with them always," Orlic said.

He especially referred to the part of the Strategy related to the issue of digitalisation, which is one of the best indicators that we are changing our country today and shaping the society to make it, in the best possible sense, a society worthy of the millennium we live in.

He reminded the attending of 2014 and Aleksandar Vucic’s first government, when digitalisation was first mentioned, sounding to many at the time like pure futurism, said Orlic.

"Look at the path we have crossed since then, when few people understood what that word meant at all. Today, every person in Serbia understands what digitalisation is, because they saw with their own eyes all the good and useful things it brought to everyone in this country. This was especially important in the fight against the pandemic. Thanks to successful digitalisation, among other things, we can say today that that the state had a successful and the best possible systemic response to the pandemic, as well as permanently improved the conditions for trade and other activities," Orlic said.

Orlic stressed that the official state policy set, personally designed and led by the President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, on which the Government and the National Assembly are working together, is dedicated to strategic issues, on time and with maximum realisation.

"This is a policy of modernisation, which propels not only trade, but should be an impulse, as it rightfully should and must be, for other branches of the economy as well. This policy forms solutions that are modern, competitive and successful, both in this area and in all other social spheres," concluded the National Assembly Deputy Speaker.

The Draft Trade Strategy of the Republic of Serbia by 2025 was presented to the participants of the public hearing by representatives of the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications - State Secretary Uros Kandic, Acting Assistant Minister Jasmin Hodzic and Zeljko Rakic from the Sector for Trade, Services and Competition Policy, as well as the Secretary of the Trade Association of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce Zarko Malinovic.

Closing the public hearing, the Chairman of the Committee on the Economy, Regional Development, Trade, Tourism and Energy Veroljub Arsic said that the National Assembly fully supports the modernisation of trade and the Committee would contribute to it within its competences.

The public hearing was organised with the support of the UNDP and the Swiss Cooperation Agency, via project "Strengthening Democracy and Inclusive Political Dialogue".