- National Company Industrial Zones (NCIZ) in Bulgaria appointed national point of contact for the Bulgarian Free Zones

21 December 2019, Belgrade, Serbia: His Excellency (H.E.) Dr. Mohammed Al Zarooni, Chairman of the World Free Zones Organization (WFZO) recently met with Serbian Minister of Finance, Siniša Mali in Serbia. The meeting was held to explore the role of Serbian free zones in advancing Serbian economic growth and managing the growth and sustainability of foreign direct investment through Serbian free zones.

The agenda of the meeting included a set of proposals presented by Dr. Al Zarooni aimed at enhancing the advantages of strategic planning for Serbian free zones. WFZO also provided its initiatives, which aimed at assuring full integration within the framework of the Serbian National Trade and Industry Policy. Dr. Al Zarooni expressed that the Serbian free zones could benefit from the unique experiences of the WFZO, through its experts and member free zones, which are among the list of the most vital and advanced free zones in the world, noting that the organization includes more than 575 free zones from 125 countries.

H.E. Dr. Al Zarooni commented: “The WFZO has developed many programs and advanced planning tools that Serbia can benefit from, which were carefully designed by leading experts in the development and management of free zones worldwide.”

“The organization recently launched a Policy Dialogue tool which involves market analytics, creation of a legal and regulatory free zone-enabling environment, economic and financial analytics, and implementation planning. The tool also opens the floor for dialogue between investors, local companies and other parties, making it one of the most effective and innovative tools for governments that seek to develop and activate a free zone. Free zones are able to advance their economic and political model in order to support realizing the potential of the free zones in a way that is directly reflected on the national and global economic and competitive growth,” added Al Zarooni.

Dr. Al Zarooni emphasized the importance of leveraging feasible opportunities to develop Serbian free zones and enhance their role. Additionally, H.E. highlighted the vast experience of WFZO members and how Serbia could benefit and learn from them. The Serbian Ministry also expressed interest in enhancing collaboration with WFZO during the meeting.

During his visit, Dr. Al Zarooni along with Vladan Vasic, MA, Mayor of the City of Pirot inaugurated the Regional Office of the WFZO for South Eastern Europe at the premises of the Pirot Chamber of Commerce. The office aims to set cooperation frameworks between WFZO and authorities for the purpose of exchanging experiences, knowledge and coordination. 

The opening of the office was followed by a meeting, which was attended by representatives of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Marko Čadež and Mr. Mihailo Vesović and representatives of Serbian free zones, to explore opportunities of developing the economic growth in Pirot and improving the business environment to attract foreign investors, and strengthening trade cooperation. During the meeting, WFZO Chairman honored Dr. Dragan Kostic, President of group of Free zones of Serbia and member of the WFZO Board of Directors, for his great contributions to the achievements of the organization.

An agreement was also signed between WFZO and the National Company Industrial Zones of Bulgaria, appointing Antoaneta Bares, Director General of NCIZ, as the National Contact Point of WFZO for the Republic of Bulgaria. The agreement aims to coordinate researches, exchange knowledge, and collect data from local free zones, in line with the efforts of the WFZO to develop stronger relationships and ties around the world.
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