Krusevac, Serbia, October 15, 2007
— IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has signed an agreement with the municipality of Krusevac in central Serbia, marking a joint commitment to improve the local business enabling environment. Krusevac is one the country’s largest municipalities, with more than 130,000 inhabitants.
“Our activities with IFC complement our development plan. We hope to reduce the administrative burden for doing business and attract new companies to our municipality. IFC’s assistance in this effort is critical,” said Dragan Azdejkovic, Mayor of Krusevac.
Improving the business environment by simplifying administrative procedures and providing better services will help reduce the cost and risk of doing business, improving the competitiveness of local municipalities and attracting more foreign direct investment.
“We are pleased to work with Mayor Azdejkovic and his team. By helping Krusevac and other municipalities in Serbia simplify procedures, we hope to develop a more favorable business environment and stimulate development of the country’s private sector,” said Philip Condon, Head of IFC Advisory Services in Southern Europe.
Krusevac is the fourth locality in Serbia to be included in IFC’s subnational competitiveness project in the country.
According to Margo Thomas, IFC Business Enabling Environment Manager and Regional Program Coordinator, the subnational competitiveness project is designed to streamline business formalities and inspections procedures. This will help increase the transparency and quality of business regulations and reduce costs—important factors in improving competitiveness.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, fosters sustainable economic growth in developing countries by financing private sector investment, mobilizing private capital in local and international financial markets, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. IFC’s vision is that poor people have the opportunity to escape poverty and improve their lives. In FY07, IFC committed $8.2 billion and mobilized an additional $3.9 billion through loan participations and structured finance for 299 investments in 69 developing countries. IFC also provided advisory services in 97 countries. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
IFC provides advisory services to support private sector development and attract new investments in Serbia. The programs concentrate on four business lines: value addition to firms, access to finance, infrastructure advisory services, and business enabling environment. To learn more about IFC advisory programs in Southern Europe, visit
www.ifc.org/pepse
.