On Monday March 23, 2015 CANSEE-Canadian Serbian Business Association as a co-organizer with the Embassy of Canada and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia presented a conference on the topic “Enabling Mining Legislation” at the Chamber’s conference center.
Mr. Nemanja Žugić, vice president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia opened the session with the welcoming speech pointing out the high importance of mining industry in Serbia and necessity of adoption of quality regulations that would accurately define the conditions of doing business in this area by modern standards prevailing in Europe and in the world.
Canadian Ambassador to Serbia Filip Pinnington said that he had the opportunity to check the capacity of the mining sector in Serbia during his visit to Bor and added that Mining is also an important sector of the Canadian economy. The Ambassador stated that the revenue from mining rents and taxes at local and central level in the last ten years amounted to an average of 7 billion Canadian dollars per year.
Serbia has a long tradition of mining, and the development of the sector can contribute significantly to job creation, particularly in less developed parts of the country, said Ambassador Pinnington.
Deputy Minister of Energy and Mining Mr. Sinisa Tanacković pointed out the measures and activities in the field of mineral policy and the implementation of mining legislations is in the process, which are the precondition for investment in the mining industry of Serbia.
Speakers included representatives from the Ministry of Mining and Energy, Bank of Montreal and NALED. The keynote speaker was one of the leading world and Canadian experts in this field, Mr. Michael Doggett who held a presentation titled “Finding the Balance: Government policy and attracting foreign investment in the mining sector. ” He said that according to statistics, the average period until the beginning of the research of mineral exploitation is 26 years, which is why companies need a balanced state policy in this area over a long period. Encouraging policy is not only the mining law, but also the climate for foreign investors, monetary and fiscal policy, the protection of acquired rights, taxes on production, income and expenses and the amount of ore rents.
Company profit depends on a number of factors, including the tax system. In the world, the national tax systems generate refund value in the range of 15 and up to 80 percent. In this context, the tax system in Serbia is somewhere in the middle of the scale, the professor said Doggett. He pointed out that the rate of annuity is not so good and that it must be defined in an amount which will not threaten investment. He cited the example of Zambia, which is mining rent increased from six to 20 percent and thus destroyed the investments that have lasted 20 years.
Serbia has good geological situation, which is a prerequisite for attracting investors in mining industry and therefore there is a possibility to attract new investors, both domestic and international, which will open new sites and new mines, concluded Doggett.
In addition to Dr. Doggett, who is a consultant in the field of mineral industry has trained more than 2,000 professionals in twelve countries in connection with the evaluation of mineral resources on the elements of a quality legal framework. Mr. Doggets’ presentation in attachment.
ENABLING MINING LEGISLATION from Cansee on Vimeo.