The delegation of the Republic of Serbia headed by Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, participated in the EBRD Investment Summit for Western Balkans and Croatia, held in London on 22 February 2016. The meeting was opened by the EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti highlighting in his statement the region’s potential which according to him offered the best investment opportunities at the global level. On behalf of the host country, the participants were addressed by Francis Maude, Minister of State for Trade and Investment expressing UK’s strong support to the Western Balkan countries on their European path.

At the joint panel, Western Balkan Prime Ministers elaborated comparative advantages of each individual country, stressing however the need for a closer regional cooperation since the regional framework offered better possibilities in terms of attracting foreign investments. In his statement, Prime Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic expressed appreciation to EBRD for past cooperation as well as an expectation that the EBRD will continue to be a reliable partner to Serbia and the region as a whole, primarily in the field of infrastructural projects to lure more foreign investment to the region.

At the sidelines of the conference, Prime Minister Vucic had a series of bilateral meetings including with EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti, Christian Danielsson, Director General for the Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations and Brian Hoyt Jee, Deputy Assistant of the US Secretary of State.
The session with Prime Ministers was followed by thematic panels with participation of Mrs. Zorana Mihajlovic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Serbia and Mr. Dusan Vujovic, Serbian Minister of Finance.

Before the opening of the summit, Western Balkan Prime Ministers briefly met with Philip Hammond, UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.