Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic yesterday opened the new building of the Customs Office in Sabac, in which the Ministry of Finance invested RSD 380 million.

Cvetkovic voiced his expectation that the new Customs Office will help businessmen in this area to establish links with Europe more easily and become more efficient and competitive in their business.

The government is trying to provide the necessary conditions for infrastructure development, the Prime Minister emphasised, adding that it is the task of economy to do business and make profit.

Serbia is also constructing road infrastructure, which includes better links between Sabac and the motorway, ie Corridor 10, which will be a priority in the upcoming period, he declared.

It is the task of the local self-government to make its area more suitable for investment and Sabac is a good example of that, Cvetkovic noted.

The Prime Minister declared that through decentralisation and by moving important institutions from the capital to other towns, Serbia is trying to attract more investment, recalling that the administration for agrarian collections is situated in Sabac.

The newly-built Customs Office spans 2,000 square metres of storage space, has 40 parking lots for trucks and 80 for cars undergoing customs procedure.

The Sabac Customs Office employs 30 workers and includes outposts in Sremska Mitrovica, Valjevo and Loznica, as well as border outposts in Trbusnica, Badovinci, Sremska Raca, Sepak and Mali Zvornik.

Last year 80,000 documents went through the Customs Office and this year, from 1 January to 31 August, a total of 29,000 documents were processed, in which period the Customs Office worked in rented premises.

Cvetkovic said that the plan of city authorities in Sabac to sell 600 hectares of building land in the industrial zone to investors is a good example how to try to improve business environment and announced that the state will give any kind of support needed in the field of legal safety and other incentives.

The joint work of local and republic authorities can yield results in attracting investment, the Prime Minister reiterated and pointed out that by getting closer to the EU and harmonising laws with European legislation, Serbia will become more attractive to domestic and foreign investors.

The state should provide legal certainty, while local governments must be involved in attracting investors, Cvetkovic said.

Joint action of the Serbian government and local self-government in he case of Sabac is a good example of creating a positive environment for investors, he said.

He also announced the construction of a port in Sabac which will simplify transportation and increase the attractiveness of the industrial zone in the city.

The Prime Minister also visited the company Interkop, Zorka Keramika and US Steel.