GERMANY 2021
DRAGAN SIMOVIĆ, MEMBER OF THE SUPERVISORY BOARD OF M&M MILITZER & MÜNCH SERBIA; MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE SERBIAN-GERMAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (AHK SERBIA)
The policy of the Government of Serbia plays one of the crucial roles, because subsidies encourage the arrival of investors. With the connecting of the Serbian-German Chamber of Commerce and the Government of Serbia, the bringing in of foreign investors is being implemented successfully, which represents a recipe for success
T
he Militzer & Münch Group employs approximately 2,100 workers in 27 countries. And over the course of just two years, M&M Serbia has reached a level of six branches and more than 160 employees in the country. M&M places its focus on complicated markets and demanding customers who expect the best prices, shortest deadlines and top professionalism. Are you satisfied with the results that you’re achieving? I am satisfied with the increase in the number of workers, because a larger number of workers shows that we have ever-more work. I estimate that we will not stop here when it comes to achieving our goals, i.e., the jobs that should be implemented over the next year. With the concluding of new contracts, there will also be an increase in the number of employees. The current forecast for the next year is that we will have around 250 employees in Serbia.
What distinguishes your company from the competition the most? What currently sets us apart from our competition is automation and the use of modern technologies, in order to conduct work better and faster. We offer our clients faster and more efficient handling, i.e., realising work in the warehouse, with the installing of lifts and conveyor belts with a capacity of 500 to 700 cartons per hour. Likewise, under the scope of the automation of our warehouse, included in our latest investment is a so-called sorting machine, which sorts up to 1,500 cartons
We offer our clients faster and more efficient handling with the installing of lifts and conveyor belts with a capacity of 500 to 700 cartons per hour per hour, thus shortening the time needed to unload, separate or sort goods by destination, which reduces errors to a minimum. To what extent does the SerbianGerman Chamber of Commerce encourage cooperation between our countries and businesspeople; and how much does it contribute to the arrival of new investors in Serbia?
BUSINESS
NEW INVESTORS ARRIVING The Serbian-German Chamber of Commerce has great significance in contributing to the arrival of new investors in Serbia. The first contact that a potential investor company makes, apart from with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, is with this chamber. The SerbianGerman Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors comprises successful businesspeople whose companies have invested in Serbia and serve as role models. I could take as an example the ZF Friedrichshafen factory, which, apart from employing a large number of people, has brought high technology to Serbia. In that sense, this factory represents a paragon for other potential investors from Germany, with which interest in coming to Serbia has increased greatly. What changes were brought to you by the pandemic? During the time of the pandemic, we saw what was happening with transport and logistics, and how much the pandemic impacted the business. The ban on movements accelerated online commerce in a way, which was demonstrated during the first days of lockdown in Serbia. A trend of increasing online business still exists and is expanding. An important element of e-commerce is the courier service, i.e., the logistics sector, to ensure the timely delivery of a shipment, which can also be specific. I believe this trend will continue and increase in our country, because online commerce is currently undergoing expansion.
37
