One-day expert conference “Economic freedom in Serbia” was held on Monday, October 10, in Belgrade, Serbia. This was the first conference we have organized as the national partner of the Fraser Institute form Canada. The institute publishes its world economic freedom index every year.

The conference aimed to look into details of the key challenges of the areas which are measured by Fraser’s index and to propose measures which should be undertaken in order to improve ranking of Serbia.

The ranking of Serbia on the Fraser list is 101 out of 159 countries. The biggest challenges are still in the field of the rule of law, respectively, impartiality and independence of the courts and the contract enforcement.

The conference was opened by H. E. Philip Pinnington, ambassador of Canada in Serbia, who welcomed Libek’s efforts in the field of public advocacy for higher economic freedom and creation of the preconditions for prosperity of the Serbian society.

Introduction speech was given by Fred McMahon, Fraser Institute researcher. He pointed out the general importance of the economic freedom for growth, development, combating poverty and achieving general prosperity. Fraser researchers, who are known for their rigorous methodology and carefully data analysis, emphasize how the economic freedom affect the growth of GDP per capita and the income of the poorest in a society.

After the introduction, participants of the conference worked in thematic working groups which were moderated by Vladimir Vučković (Fiscal Council of the Republic of Serbia), Boris Begović (University of Belgrade, Faculty of Law), Rastko Petaković (Karanović/Nikolić, legal practice), Slaviša Tasić (University of Mary, North Dakota, US) and Mihailo Gajić (Libek).

In the final part of the conference, the moderators presented key conclusions of the discussions they had in the working groups.

The conference was attended by around 80 relevant experts from private sector, universities and institutes, diverse business associations, as well as chambers and representatives of public institutions.

The conclusions will be a part of the economic freedom audit which we will present to the public in the forthcoming period.