On March 15th, 2023, the 5th National Conference “DIGITALIZATION AS A WAY OUT OF THE SHADOW ECONOMY” was held on announcing two important milestones, both achieved under the auspices of National Cashless Payment Initiative “Better way”, a joint project between GIZ and Visa and Mastercard companies, in partnership with NALED and the Serbian Ministry of Finance:
- Promotion of the new National Program for Suppression of the Shadow Economy 2023-2025
- Launching the POS Program – encouraging greater use of cashless payments and promoting development of the acceptance infrastructure for cashless payments in Serbia and supporting the entrepreneurs and small businesses, supporting greater financial inclusion of citizens and the economy, reduction of the shadow economy, faster economic development, and digitalization.
The conference was opened by Mr. Sinisa Mali, Vice-President of the Government of Serbia, and Minister of Finance, Mrs. Stanka Pejanović, Vice-President of the Executive Board of NALED and attended by other ministries in charge from the Government of Serbia, the vice-governor of the National Bank of Serbia, Ms. Dragana Stanić, banks, business community, and with wide coverage of media. H.E. Ms. Anke Konrad, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, represented the German-Serbian cooperation on the occasion and gave an inaugural speech in which she stated:
„The start of the implementation of both of these programs is a significant milestone for the Government of Serbia and for the Serbian economy. The implementation of these programs will mark an important milestone for the acceptance of the EU acquis. Especially for the necessary reforms in the core cluster. Since the general goal of our cooperation is to bring Serbia closer to the European Union, this is an important step. That’s why I want to emphasize how important it is now to continue with the implementation of the National Program and to invest the necessary political will in it.“
„Germany supports Serbia in its fight against corruption and the gray economy. And that is why we follow the principle “Leave no one behind”, which means that we strive for broad financial inclusion of all citizens of Serbia, with a special emphasis on marginalized and vulnerable groups“, Ms. Konrad added.