A Recommendation for Investment

In 2005, Belgrade drew 1.8 billion dollars in direct foreign investment, which is the largest amount invested so far in Southeast Europe on an annual basis.

By Jelena Gligorić

Belgrade Mayor Nenad Bogdanović recently returned from Cannes, where on March 16 he received, on behalf of Belgrade, the award "City of the Future in Southeast Europe". Mr. Bogdanović said that this award, given by the distinguished British publication Financial Times, has joined Serbia's capital in the ranks of cities that are either currently undergoing dramatic development or already enjoy a long-standing business tradition.

"What needs to happen now in Belgrade and Serbia is for foreign capital to begin pouring in faster. Without this, there can be no new jobs and new programmes. There is a shortage of capital in the country itself. This is why investors from abroad are a must. Today, we are seeing development in those areas where we had previously invested in infrastructure. The city must continue investing in infrastructure by either building new projects or revitalising old infrastructure, which will create the conditions for attracting new foreign investors. Just how important this is may be illustrated by the fact that the city of Belgrade earned about ten million euros in 2000 from landscaping construction sites, while this year that income is likely to top one hundred million euros. This money will be invested in new infrastructure, whether communal or transportation", said Mayor Bogdanović.

Nenad Bogdanović, mayor of Belgrade, in Cannes where he received the "The City of the Future in South Europe" award on behalf of Belgrade.

The mayor stressed that a lot has been done in improving infrastructure around the highway and the surrounding area towards the airport, and that the next task will be to improve infrastructure around the Novi Sad highway beyond Batajnica, then on the Zrenjanin-Novi Sad route, the Ibar road and towards the city of Nis. The newest greenfield investments are no longer in New Belgrade, the site of greatest construction activity, but in Zemun, which will soon be on par with New Belgrade in terms of investments.

Promotion strategy   Belgrade's candidacy for this award was submitted by the Serbian Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SIEPA) together with USAID-SEDP. The competition for the "cities and regions of the future" is organised by a special edition of the Financial Times for foreign direct investment, FDI Magazine. The annual award is given to leading cities on all seven continents. The world's leading economic magazine recommends attractive investment locations. The locations were ranked by the following criteria and categories: economic potential, cost effectiveness, human resources, it and telecommunications, transport, quality of life and FDI promotion.

"My assessment is that in three years time, three and a half million square metres of business and housing space will be built in Belgrade, that the average salary will be five hundred euros and that the pace of employment will grow at a much higher rate", said Bogdanović.

New Belgrade – City Center

The Cannes award re-affirms what is known by anyone who has recently walked the streets of Belgrade. Certain city sections, especially in New Belgrade, are altering their appearance so quickly that Belgraders are finding it increasingly difficult to find their way in this environment of stepped-up change. Banks, hotels, luxury business and trade centres, shopping malls, elite residential and business housing areas are all quickly filling the empty lots of New Belgrade. Foreign and domestic companies are investing millions in the construction of commercial buildings of the highest category, are opening branch offices and thus completely altering the outward appearance of the city sections across the river.

Novo lice Novog Beograda

New Belgrade is the most favorable city section for construction, primarily because of its excellent infrastructure and the situation regarding property rights. The City Construction Land and Building Directorate said that some 180,000 square metres of land had been leased and another 300,000 are being prepared for developers.

The most intensive construction activity is occurring in the greater circle of the Belgrade Arena, which is becoming Serbia's 'Wall Street'. More than one million square metres of office space are under construction, including many new hi-tech buildings that will host foreign companies' branch offices. The price of one square metre of residential space in this section has already reached 2,000 euros, and demand in the area continues to grow.

Work on a detailed plan for Block 26, between the Belgrade Arena and the Federal Building, is currently under way and the construction of a regional city centre is planned, with some 400,000 square metres for business and entertainment. There is even the idea to build Europe's tallest skyscraper in this area. It would be 300 metres tall, and have between 70 and 100 floors.

A bit farther away, in Block 67, Delta Holding Company has begun construction on a large shopping mall: the "Delta City 67", on some 87,000 square metres of land. Construction will cost an estimated 80 million euros or more. It is scheduled to receive its first customers in September 2007. In addition, Delta has announced construction of a high category hotel immediately next to the Belgrade Hyatt.

In addition to Belgrade, which was declared the "city of the future in Southeast Europe for 2006/2007", the other awards went to London - declared the "city of the future in Northern Europe", to Paris – the "city of the future in Western Europe", to Brno - the "city of the future in Central Europe" and to Baku - the "city of the future in Eastern Europe". In the first round of the competition, the Serbian capital was also declared the "city of the future of the central part of Southeast Europe". The region of Southeast Europe as defined in the competition for which Belgrade won the award included the following countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey and Mediterranean islands (Corsica, Crete, Cyprus, Malta, Sicily).

Belgrade will in 2009 host the world students' games, the Universiad, which is the world's most massive sports competition following the Olympic Games. Belgrade must by that time build a university village to accommodate the arrival of some 9,500 student-athletes. The village is also for Block 67. According to initial calculations, 250 million euros will be invested in the entire complex. The urban development plan envisages the construction of 220,000 square metres, 180,000 of which will be slated for residential accommodation. The rest will be used for a market centre, a supermarket, a school, a pre-school facility, a health care centre, a centre for the elderly and other institutions and facilities. None of the buildings will be taller than twelve stories. The final deadline to complete this work will be the beginning of 2009.

In Block 65, the Belgrade City Airport is building a large 70,000- square-metre business park. This will be the first multi-functional commercial centre in Serbia that will merge state-of-the-art technology and the needs of the centre users. As investors say, this will be more than a group of individual business buildings. It will be a true business park that will provide its "tenants" the comfort of a "city within a city".

In the Sava Convention Hall neighborhood, between the prestigious Genex suites, the Hyatt Hotel and the Intercontinental Hotel, a commercial and residential complex is being built with a symbolic name - Savograd, an investment valued at an estimated 50 million euros. The complex will include 50,000 square metres, 20,000 of which will be for commercial purposes, 15,000 business suites, and 15,000 square metres in underground levels. The first tenants of Savograd will move in at the end of next year.

Business and residential suites complex "Savograd"

In late 2009, Belgrade will also get a pair of twin towers. According to the investors' plans, the "European Construction Company", will build a twin tower for the already existing Ušće Business Center another. The area between the two towers will include a multi-functional centre. The complex consisting with these two buildings and a shopping mall will cover 60,000 square metres.

BgCD   The BGCD, a multimedia presentation of Belgrade, was also presented at Cannes. This CD is an abridged version of the new city web site. A special attraction of the BGCD is a 3D map of the city, including one hundred landmarks with photographs and information. It was designed by Vitomir Jevremović, who has done several similar projects (medieval Belgrade, archaeological finds at Vinča and Gamzigrad). In contrast to his other presentations in which standard commercial software was used, Jevremović wanted to go a step further and create a CD that would be a programme in itself. By applying programmes used in the creation of video games, Jevremović made Belgrade "come alive". About one hundred of the most characteristic hallmarks of Belgrade were presented three dimensionally, creating an interesting viewing experience even for Belgraders. Several TV spots about Belgrade were included as well as an interesting photo gallery of the city. By the end of the year, a CD pertaining to the promotion of tourism in Belgrade is scheduled to be issued, and there are plans for a BG guide to be developed, with pointers to cultural, sports and entertainment programmes.

The capital city may also receive a new national opera house in the next five years. Possible locations for the 35,000 square-metre building, at a cost of between 70 and 120 million euros, are next to the Museum of Contemporary Art, between the Federal Building and the Ušće Business Center, or the New Belgrade section of the Sava River amphitheater. Commercial buildings will also be constructed in Block 37, along the Third Boulevard, in Blocks 64 and 63, 58 and 61, while in Block 44 basketball player Žarko Paspalj is opening an aquatic part by next summer. The attractiveness of this part of the city will be even greater when in 2008 a bridge across Ada is completed, which will markedly improve traffic connections between New Belgrade and the old Belgrade quarter.

New in the old

At the same time, the construction of several large facilities is underway or is expected to begin soon in the old city section. These development plans are clustered close to or on the city river banks, in downtown locations that have been abandoned for the past fifteen or so years. One of the greatest investments will be construction of the "Prokop" railroad station. The Serbian railroads ("JP Železnice Srbije") has announced that the Cypriot firm "Trigrant Holding LTD" has been selected in an international tender as the most favorable bidder to finance and develop the commercial- business space and "Beograd Centar" passenger railroad station. The completion of this station and moving the present railroad station to a new location will free some 180 hectres of space in the most exclusive Belgrade location, which will be offered to investors for commercial, tourist and cultural purposes.

Also, the Dorćol marina and a housing and business complex along the Danube River will be constructed by the "Engel Marina Dorćol" enterprise. The investor is to pay 2,077 billion dinars for a 99-year lease on the land. A total of 43,000 square metres of housing and 27,000 square metres of business and commercial facilities of up to twelve stories will be constructed on 2.57 hectres of land. Also scheduled for construction wil commercial and service facilities for the marina - a yacht club, hangars, workshops. At the beginning of this year, foundations were laid for the "B2" facilities on the slope of the Terazije plateau in the heart of Belgrade. According to investors "Mali Kolektiv - ETB", this facility will represent a new era in improving residential accommodation and doing business in downtown Belgrade.

Airport City Belgrade, the first business park that will provide residents with the comforts of a "city within a city".